Ninety workers at Zaloni tea estate have contracted COVID-19.
Over 200 workers and staff members from at least two different tea gardens in upper Assam's Dibrugarh district have been found to be coronavirus positive in the past three days, forcing the district administration to declare it a containment zone.
Over 150 people are positive at Zaloni tea estate and 60 positive cases have been found in Mayajan tea estate, said a government source.
The Zaloni tea estate has been shut down.
Top officials including the Medical Inspector of Plantations and officials from the health department have been sent to the area to take stock of the situation.
The garden hospital and the two vacant staff quarters have been turned into temporary isolation centers for the positive patients.
The garden hospital and the two vacant staff quarters have been turned into temporary isolation centers for the Covid patients.
Nabajyoti Gogoi, the District Surveillance Officer of IDSP Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme), Dibrugarh said a vaccination drive would be carried out in the garden from today apart from other measures like sanitization etc.
Several organizations have been demanding vaccinations in the tea gardens as there is a possibility of the virus spreading faster with workers staying and working in close proximity.
The district administration has shut down markets nearby as a precaution.
The Deputy Commissioner Pallav Gopal Jha has asked officials across the district to close markets in their areas if the situation demands.
Assam on Wednesday reported 55 COVID-19 fatalities, the highest single-day deaths, pushing the total number of fatalities to 1,485, according to the government.
The state also registered 4,826 new COVID-19 cases, which took the tally to 2,72,751, it said.