COVID19 positive
Representative photo. Image credit - ddnews.gov.in

Two ladies and the driver of the ambulance, who had come from Mumbai to Jorhat on Friday, tested positive for COVID19 at the Jorhat Medical College Hospital (JMCH) on Saturday.

This was disclosed by Jorhat deputy commissioner Roshni A Korati tonight.

Assam health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said in a tweet that the driver of the ambulance returned to Mumbai after dropping the two persons, who tested positive at Jorhat.

Also read: Assam registers 3 more COVID19 positive cases, total count rises to 62

“The two ladies are presently in JMCH and are not symptomatic. They are stable,” the deputy commissioner further stated.

The two women have been identified as 36-year-old Mamu Bora from Ujoni Charaimoria in Jorhat and 27-year-old Parishmita Dutta Kalita from Charingia in Jorhat.

The deputy commissioner further said luckily, all ambulances had been routed directly to JMCH.

“They did not come into contact with anybody,” she said.

On Thursday, six persons from Mumbai came to Jorhat and the first batch of 37 migrants came by their own vehicles on Friday.

Deputy commissioner Korati said out of the 37, a total of 13 persons were from a green zone in West Bengal, 2 from orange zones in Odisha and West Bengal and 22 from red zones in Delhi and West Bengal.

The DC further said 6 persons came on Thursday by ambulances from red zones in Maharashtra and Bihar.

“All 43 persons were screened in Jorhat yesterday and today. Results of 15 out of 22 samples have come. They are negative,” she said.

Korati said people from green and orange zones were asymptomatic and they were therefore sent to their home districts.

The break-up was that from green zone, seven people were sent to Dibrugarh and five to Tinsukia.

Of the three persons, who came from orange zones, two were sent to Sivasagar and one was sent to Tinsukia.

Jorhat, which has a screening facility at the JMCH, is the first stop for migrants where they will be screened before proceeding to their home districts in upper Assam.

A source said 22 of the migrants have been lodged in two hotels in the town for which they would have to pay.

The source further said the district has tied up with 10 hotels to serve as quarantine facility.

It is reported that an educational institute, located along the inter-district border of Jorhat and Golaghat, has been converted into another such facility.

This facility with 200 beds has been prepared to house the migrants who would be soon returning to their homes in Assam, by buses and trains.

Smita Bhattacharyya is Northeast Now Correspondent in Jorhat. She can be reached at: [email protected]