Agartala:
The Tripura government has issued an alert after random testing found 21 per cent coronavirus positivity rate in state capital Agartala. The state government has indefinitely suspended neighbourhood classes where more than one lakh students were in attendance, as the positivity rate shot up.
Tripura has started classes on open grounds for students of government schools who don’t have access to online lessons amid the coronavirus pandemic. Only five students are allowed in a class, and wearing masks and keeping social distancing are a must.
Till Saturday, 7,232 people recovered from coronavirus in the state. There are 3,529 active cases and close to 100 deaths so far. Tripura has logged over 10,000 cases so far.
Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb, who also holds the Health Department, said that the coronavirus crisis in the Agartala Municipal Corporation (AMC) areas is extremely alarming with a positivity rate of 21 per cent. Around five lakh people reside in these areas.
“Of the 49 wards in the AMC, 753 coronavirus positive cases have been found in nine wards. To avoid the gatherings in the government offices, 50 per cent employees of Group “C” and “D” employees would be allowed to attend the office each day,” Mr Deb said in a locally televised speech.
The COVID-19 positivity rate was 92 per cent in Ward 4 of the AMC, followed by 52 per cent in Ward 6, 94 per cent in Ward 12, 99 per cent in Ward 20, 93 per cent in Ward 26, 32 per cent in Ward 32, 100 per cent in Ward 40 and 69 per cent in Ward 46.
Earlier this week, doctors in Tripura issued an alert for massive community spread.