After the Coronavirus infected almost 300 returnees and claimed two lives among thousands within the confine of quarantine centres so far in Kangpokpi district, the first positive case with no travel history outside the state was detected on Sunday evening.
A 60-year-old ASHA worker from Kangpokpi District Headquarters Ward No.5 was tested positive for COVID-19 after her sample was collected on July 31 along with other ASHA workers. She is healthy and showed no symptoms.
The ASHA worker who is among the other ASHAs assigned duty to record temperature of inmates at various Institutional Quarantine Centres also works as a vegetable vendor at women market in uptown Kangpokpi district HQ.
The medical department immediately swung into action with the assistance of Kangpokpi Town Committee, Kangpokpi Women Welfare Organization, Kangpokpi Youth Union and district police sealed all the entry path of Ward No.5 the night itself while the District Magistrate/DC Kangpokpi issued containment measure to prevent the disease in the area.
Subsequently, contact tracing of the patient was started on Monday morning by the medical department led by DSO of Kangpokpi district, Dr Henkhoneng Mate and MS in-charge of District Hospital Kangpokpi, Dr Paotinlal Haokip, along with Chunglenmang Kipgen, MCS with the help of the local civil bodies and police. The patient was shifted to a temporary isolation centre from her residence. The identified contacted persons were instructed by the medical department and district administration officials to stay self-quarantined at home for 14 days and not to venture out.
District magistrate, Somorjit Salam has issued a public notification informing that any persons who had come in direct contact with the ASHA worker since one week, that is from July 25, to inform directly to Dr. Henkhoneng Mate and Dr. Paotinlal Haokip through their mobile numbers 8131087633 and 96512324045 respectively during hospital hours for sample collection and testing.
With the detection of COVID-19 positive outside the quarantine centres, the public of Kangpokpi has begun to follow lockdown protocols and the town wore a completely deserted look on Monday.
Till the time of filing the report, the cumulative number of COVID-19 positive cases in Kangpokpi district stand at 280 out of which 141 have been cured and discharged while the active cases stand at 139 with two reported deaths.
