The Tripura government has decided to convert the Bhagat Singh youth hostel here into a 300-bed Covid-19 treatment centre, a decision which came soon after a spurt in the number of novel coronavirus patients. The centre will be under the supervision of GB Pant Hospital.

Tripura has the highest number of Covid-19 cases (88) in the Northeast, followed by Assam (58). Out of the 88 cases, 86 are active and two patients have recovered.

Additional chief secretary (health), S.K. Rakesh, told reporters on Friday: “The state government has decided that Shaheed Bhagat Singh Youth Hostel in Agartala will be converted into a Covid-19 care centre. From tomorrow, any Covid-19 patient will be shifted to the youth hostel. Persons with mild symptoms and asymptomatic patients will be shifted to the centre. So far, we have arranged 300 beds and if the positive cases increase, we will also increase the beds.”

Rakesh said 24 BSF personnel of the 86 Battalion headquarters tested positive on Thursday. Among them, a sub-inspector of BSF’s 3 Battalion headquarters, deployed at Dhalaighat border outpost in Kamalpur subdivision of Dhalai district, had also tested positive, he said.

“The jawan from BSF’s 3 Battalion was admitted with fever and cough at Kamalpur subdivisional hospital. After his sample tested positive, he was shifted to GB Pant Hospital along with the 23 other jawans,” Rakesh said.

The state government has also declared the Dhalaighat border outpost as a containment zone and started contact-tracing.

“The close contacts of the patient are being traced. At the Kamalpur containment zone, around 4,800 people reside. Based on the situation, surveillance is going on, he said.

He also said they have contacted inspector-general of BSF Tripura Frontier and are in the process of collecting samples on a random basis from all 18 BSF battalions in the state.

“The source of infection was not known yet and the BSF officials are saying that no personnel entered the state from outside after lockdown. The carrier must have recovered and the rest have been infected. We are in touch with the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC). We have requested its officials to come to Tripura and conduct investigation and analysis so that we can have a better understanding of the situation,” Rakesh said.

Since the first case was reported in Dhalai district at the BSF 138 Battalion, the health department has collected more than 1,200 samples after contact tracing till Friday evening.

“Collection of samples from service personnel and their family members at 138 Battalion headquarters has been completed. All the samples of 86 Battalion personnel have been completed. Twenty-seven samples of their family members have been collected and are under process,” the official said.