Covid: Tripura makes facemasks mandatory; mass testing at markets from tomorrow

“Certain decisions were taken to be followed from tomorrow, including wearing of masks which would be treated as mandatory in public places. The scenario will be vigorously monitored in the next one week and decisions will be taken accordingly,” he said.

However, no fine or restrictions on public movement would be imposed for violating the guidelines, the officer said, adding that penal provisions might be adopted at a later stage depending on the prevailing condition.

Mass testing at markets, offices

As per standard protocol, the government would commence mass testing at offices, marketplaces from tomorrow. The trend would be monitored for one week, which would decide the next court of action.

Mass testing at railway stations and airports testing is not mandatory yet, officers said.

Health department figures showed there were 131 Covid positive cases in the last one week in the state, out of which 82 cases were reported from West Tripura, apart from some cases from adjoining Sepahijala district. If the trend continues, the virus might spread to other districts significantly, the Covid nodal officer said. A preliminary analysis has shown only 8 out of 131 Covid cases had a travel history.

Dr. Debbarma also said Covid trends have gone up in the last one week in NE India, among which Tripura, Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland are having upward trends, apart from other states of the country like Kerala and Maharashtra.

The machinery to ensure breaking the chain of transmission would be strengthened by roping in the other departments, Debbarma said.

Dr. Tapan Majumder, Microbiology Head of the Department at Agartala Government Medical College, said Covid testing was very low in the past 3-4 months in the state and the test positivity rate was below 0.5 per cent since October last year, when the last major trend of surge was observed.

However, people largely avoided wearing masks and social-distancing norms as festivals were going on in full swing amidst huge gatherings, Dr. Majumder said, pointing out the possible reasons for the return of the virus.

“Vaccination cover is very good in Tripura, so we hoped the fourth wave would not affect us. But the recent data suggests we might have to face the fourth wave after,” he said.

21 of 22 cases from West Tripura

According to the latest reports, 22 Covid positive patients were identified in the last 24 hours, out of which 21 were from West Tripura district alone. A majority of them were learnt to be from areas under the Agartala municipality.

A total of 1,01,042 persons were tested positive since the pandemic hit in 2020, and 920 among them expired with a 0.91 per cent fatality rate while 98.97 percent patients have recovered.