All 28 employees of Swahid Kushal Konwar civil hospital in Golaghat tested negative for Covid-19 on Thursday, bringing relief to the district health services.

The staff had treated a mentally ill patient in the medicine department, who had tested positive for the virus, and were put in quarantine on Tuesday and their samples sent for testing.

The samples of as many as 48 people, including doctors, nurses, an ambulance driver and other staff, along with patients and other people who were in close contact with the patient, were collected for testing and all of the reports came negative on Thursday.

District information and public relations in-charge officer Papu Gogoi confirmed the test results.

Hospital superintendent Dr Uttam Prasad Dutta said since all the staff had tested negative, they would resume their duties on Friday.

“Though the tests were carried out to make sure the staff didn’t get infected from the patient, it is a relief that all of them tested negative,” Dutta said.

Senior medical and health officer Dr Ananta Baruah said as all the staff had tested negative, they could carry on normal duties.

Golaghat deputy commissioner Bibhash Chandra Modi said 135 positive cases have been detected in the district so far, of which 126 are active cases.

“Of them, 111 are in SKKCH and 15 in Jorhat Medical College and Hospital (JMCH), where they are undergoing treatment,” he said.

The mentally ill patient from Kachomari Merapani was admitted in the medicine department on May 22.

After his samples tested positive for Covid-19 on Tuesday, the medicine department was sealed for outpatients and it witnessed a major drop in the health services for the past couple of days.