Tripura issues alert after three virus strains detected

AGARTALA: The Tripura government has sounded an alert after the double mutant strain of coronavirus and those of Britain and African variants were found in the state, officials said on Friday.
Director of health Radha Debbarma and professor of microbiology of Agartala Government Medical College Tapan Majumder said 19 samples collected from Covid-infected persons were sent outside Tripura for advanced virological tests.Of them 17 were found to be infected with the highly infectious and deadly virus strains of Covid-19.
Of the 17 infectious samples, 11 were found infected with the double mutant variety that devastated Maharashtra, five were of British strain origin and one strain of African origin. So, people should strictly adhere to all covid norms for safety, Majumder told reporters on Friday.
“If this variant spreads in Tripura, it would be very difficult to manage the situation. So, preventive action and following Covid appropriate behaviour are the only option left with us to fight against the strains of Covid in the present situation,” Majumdar said.
He pointed out that the outbreak of coronavirus was first reported in December, 2019 and since then, the virus has kept on changing its character from time to time.
Imediately after the receipt of the test results of outsiders by the state government, Tripura health secretary JK Sinha held a virtual meeting on Thursday with district magistrates, superintendents of police and the chief medical officers of all the eight districts and asked them to take all precautions and strictly maintain the Covid-19 norms, officials said.
Siddhartha Shiva Jaiswal, director of state National Health Mission, said in the second wave, people aged between 20 and 40 years are the most affected by coronavirus in Tripura.
Of the 665 people who tested postive for coronavirus till April 23, a total 50.79% of them were between 20 and 40 years, he added.
A total of 8.39 lakh people of the state have taken the first dose of vaccine, which is 24% of the state’s population and is much higher than the national average of only 6%.
Meanwhile, at least 166 more people tested positive for Covid-19 in Tripura on Friday pushing the tally in the state to 35,169, a health department official said.