Assam COVID-19 Suspects Accused Of Spitting "All Over" Hospital Ward

The authorities in Assam's Golaghat district have said several people who have been quarantined in the district civil hospital allegedly spat all over inside the quarantine ward as well as outside through the windows on Friday.

The alleged incident happened before state Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma's visit to the hospital. Forty-two people have been quarantined as they came in direct contact with eight people who have been infected with COVID-19, and who had been to an event organised by an Islamic sect in Delhi's Nizamuddin, which has emerged as a hotspot of the highly infectious disease.

The authorities in Golaghat said the patients also tried to spit on the medical staff. The authorities had to get the staff to climb the building from outside to close the windows of the quarantine ward.

Four more who had returned from the Tablighi Jamaat event were tested positive for coronavirus, taking total number of cases in Assam to 20. All the patients in Assam have either stayed at the Nizamuddin Markaz or attended the Tablighi Jamaat event.

"A lot of patients in Golaghat who are quarantined might be thinking that they appear stable. We have forcefully brought them... They have been spitting all over the place. Their elders will have to explain to them over the phone that they should not spit around since this might spread the disease," Mr Sarma said.

"I am deeply hurt that they are spitting through the window. Patients have to be aware of it. And society should also not treat the patients badly," he said.

NDTV has accessed this video where authorities at Golaghat are seen instructing a government employee to close all the windows of the quarantine ward from outside. 

Sixty-two people have died after being infected by the novel coronavirus, the government said today. Across the country the number of confirmed cases is now 2,547, with 478 new cases detected in the past 24 hours.