Meghalaya government on Thursday refuted BSF’s claim on the number of its jawans infected by COVID19.
The state government asked the Border Security Force (BSF) not to provide wrong figures to the people of the state on COVID19 positive cases.
The state government maintained that so far only five BSF personnel and the wife of a jawan of the force have tested positive for COVID19.
Health minister AL Hek told reporters on Thursday that the number of COVID19 cases has been confirmed by the state health department after testing the samples.
“We have told the BSF that the number of COVID19 cases has been confirmed by the state government,” Hek said.
While clarifying on the statement of the BSF, the director health services (MI), Dr Aman War said earlier the BSF Meghalaya Frontier had informed that some of the personnel tested positive for COVID19 on their arrival in Assam because they collected the samples when the jawans arrived at the Guwahati Airport or railway station.
“Since those personnel are posted in Meghalaya, they were sent to Shillong for quarantine in their own campus. However, when we collected their samples and retested in Shillong, they were all found negative,” Dr War said while refuting the claims of the BSF Meghalaya Frontier headquarters in Shillong.
The BSF Meghalaya Frontier on Wednesday claimed that 11 persons of the force tested COVID19 positive.
Till date, Dr War said, only five BSF personnel and one lady, the wife of one BSF jawan, who is the driver, have tested positive for COVID19 in Shillong.
“Therefore the number of positive cases given by the BSF is not correct and there is no controversy on this. We are not counting those who were tested positive in Assam because they were tested negative in Shillong ,” Dr War said.
So far, Megahalaya has recorded a total of 56 COVID19 positive cases, including 12 active cases.
While 43 patients have recovered, the disease has claimed the life of the state’s first positive patient.
On Thursday, a new positive case was reported from Ri Bhoi district, taking the state’s tally to 56 while one patient, who is an Army jawan has recovered on the day bringing down the number of active cases from 13 to 12.
The new positive patient is from Khanapara-B in Ri Bhoi district.
The patient, earlier tested positive in Assam, again tested positive after returning to Meghalaya.
Dr War also said the BSF personnel, who tested positive and quarantined inside their campus, are following the protocols of the health ministry, while those staying outside the campus are following the protocols of the state health department.
He also informed that samples collected from the BSF personnel have been sent for testing by the state government.
Dr War also said as per the information shared to the state government, around 150 more BSF personnel of the Meghalaya Frontier would come to the state.
He said the BSF authority has been asked not to bring all of them to come at one go, but they can come in batches to minimise the risk of getting infected by the virus.
“Those who went for leave would return to the state to resume their duty but they would not be allowed to return at the same time,” Dr War said.
He said those, who tested negative, will also have to complete the quarantine period in Shillong, and they cannot move immediately to their respective place of posting in the international borders even after having tested negative.