The Tripura government has started an intensive sample collection drive and identified three new hospitals for treatment, after the spike in the number of Covid-19 cases.

Tripura now has the highest number of novel coronavirus cases (62) in the Northeast, followed by Assam (49). In the past five days, 64 cases have been detected in Dhalai district, of which 62 are active.

Additional chief secretary (health), S.K. Rakesh said, “The numbers have increased all of a sudden. We expect the virus will not spread since it is contained within the BSF’s 138th Battalion headquarters. It has also not spread to border outposts or in the adjacent 86th Battalion or in the civilian areas. However, we are ready in case the numbers rise. We are upgrading the capacity at GB Pant Hospital.”

He said the hospital has 80 beds, which can be increased to 100. “We have also identified the Udaipur district hospital in Gomati district, at Rajnagar in South district and Dharmanagar primary health centre in North district. The hospitals have limited beds but each can handle 30 patients,” he added.

He said 916 samples have been collected in Dhalai since May 2.

“We will shift 35 patients to the BSF hospital tomorrow or the day after. Thirty medical workers from the BSF are being trained at GB Pant Hospital so they can handle the Covid-19 patients,” Rakesh added.

Compensation: The state government has revised compensation on Covid-19 related deaths from Rs 4 lakh to Rs 10 lakh as the number of cases has risen in the state.

A press release from the chief minister’s office said the state government will provide Rs 10 lakh in case of death of any frontline worker, doctors, nurse, health workers, paramedics, police personnel, journalists, cleaning staff, ICP staff, and ASHA workers, including the civil administration and line departments.

“The ex gratia of Rs 4 lakh, earlier declared by the state government, will be given from the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) and the remaining Rs 6 lakh from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund,” it said.

Migrant labourers: The government on Thursday also said it will bear the entire cost of sending 33,000 migrant workers to their respective states and bringing back its people stranded elsewhere.

The move comes days after Congress president Sonia Gandhi directed the party’s state units to pay for the train journeys of the stranded, including migrant workers, students and pilgrims, who want to return home, after it was reported that the Centre and states were allegedly charging them for train fares to return home after restrictions on travelling was lifted partially.

A statement released by the chief minister’s office said, “The state government has made arrangements for train bookings to send back 33,000 migrant workers to their respective states. All the expenditure, around Rs 2.50 crore, would be borne from the chief minister’s relief fund.”

The government will also run two trains to Tripura — one from Bangalore at an expenditure of Rs 14.50 lakh and another from Chennai at Rs 16 lakh, it added. These trains will bring back the state’s residents, who mostly work in the southern states and are stranded there.

The state government has also announced that 50,000 above poverty line but poor families, who have got free ration, will now receive a one-time assistance of Rs 1,000 each, totalling Rs 5 crore from the chief minister’s relief fund. The general manager of Northeast Frontier Railway will be the nodal officer for arranging trains for people stranded in Tripura.