40 people from the Tripura BSF base, including 36 jawans have tested positive. (Representational)
The Tripura Government has written to the Border Security Force (BSF) today asking for an inquiry into the source of the spread of the novel coronavirus in one of its battalion headquarters in the state. The state government has also asked the BSF about the measures it had taken to contain the contagion to prevent it from getting transmitted to people living in the vicinity of the BSF unit.
The letter, a copy of which has been accessed by NDTV, comes close on the heels of the spike in the COVID-19 case in Tripura. Since Saturday, 54 personnel from the border guarding force have tested positive for the virus.
22 new cases have been reported today. The wife of a BSF jawan, five children and a mess worker in the headquarters have also tested COVID-19 positive.
Swab samples of 88 personnel and their family members in the camp, who came in touch with the infected, were taken on Tuesday.
More than a week before the emergence of cases from the BSF unit, Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb had declared the state "corona free".
After the reports of infections, the battalion headquarters, forward admin base and border outpost have been declared as containment zones, according to sources.
Since Saturday, 62 people from the BSF base, including 54 jawans have tested positive for the virus.
According to the above-mentioned sources, the personnel from different levels of the BSF deployment in Dhalai district -- 138 battalion headquarters in Ambassa, forward admin base in Gandacherra and a remote border outpost named Karina - have tested positive .
Dhalai district, a green zone till last Friday, has been declared a Red Zone post the emergence of fresh COVID-19 cases.
Tripura shares a 856 km long border with Bangladesh and BSF mans this border. On the other side of the border in Bangladesh, more than 10 thousand people have been infected with coronavirus and 180 have died due to the disease.
Amid the lockdown, when the international border has been sealed, the BSF had stepped up its vigil and men on the border as there were a few instances of suspected Bangladeshis trying to sneak into India, the sources further added.
According to reports, the health department has put over 1,028 people in different quarantine centers and a total of 5820 samples have been tested.
Tripura has 64 coronavirus cases, of which two people have been discharged post recovery.