Eighteen people have tested positive for COVID-19 at Naharlagun in Arunachal Pradesh on Tuesday.
They were among the 23 persons who have attended a ‘fasting meet’ at a prayer centre in Papu Nallah of Naharlagun.
The development came after a fortnight of the government decision to allow places of worship to open from July 1 onwards.
Following the sudden surge in cases, the district disaster management authority has issued a containment order on the centre in Papu Nallah.
Also read: Arunachal: Contact tracing of COVID-19 positive cases in capital region
It also instructed to put the inmates under home quarantine for a period of 14 days with immediate effect.
During the containment period, the DMO will collect samples of the primary and secondary contacts for COVID-19 tests after shifting all positive cases to the COVID care centre in Lekhi.
As per the order, no unauthorized person shall be allowed to enter or exit from the prayer centre church without prior approval from either the Itanagar capital region deputy commissioner or the DMO/DSO.
The DMO/DSO will carry out antigen/RT-PCRA TrueNat tests on all the inmates as per the SOP from time to time and instruct on the period of quarantine and other follow-up action to be taken.
The DMO will also deploy staff to oversee the immediate medical and other essential needs of the inmates of the prayer centre, as may be required, and also for thermal scanning, etc.
The building will also be sanitized soon.
“At present, the perimeter of the containment area will be the prayer centre church. No buffer zone has been created as the scale is reportedly localized within the prayer centre as per contact tracing,” the order read.
“However the perimeter will be expanded subject to subsequent findings and as shall be required,” it further stated.
Violators of the order will be prosecuted under Section 51 (b) of the Disaster Management Act, 2005, and under Section 188 of the IPC.