Sikkim reported its first COVID-19 case on Saturday as a 25-year-old student who recently returned from Delhi tested positive for the disease, a senior official said.
The sample of the student was sent to the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital in Siliguri for testing. The report came back positive, Health Department Director General-cum-Secretary Pempa Tshering Bhutia told reporters here.
The student, who hails from Rabangla in South Sikkim district, is undergoing treatment at the Sir Thutob Namgyal Memorial (STNM) Hospital here, he said.
The student was in Delhi to prepare for competitive examinations.
He travelled on a private bus from New Delhi to Siliguri last week and then took a SNT bus to Melli Check post on May 19, Bhutia said.
He was lodged at one of the designated quarantine centres in the South district, the official added.
He showed coronavirus-like symptoms of fever and chill on May 21 and was immediately shifted to the STNM Hospital, Bhutia said.
His sample was tested on the TrueNat machine at the STNM Hospital and it was found positive, the official said, adding his sample was sent to the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital for RTPCR test to further confirm the status.
The report came back as positive, Bhutia said.
The student’s co-passengers who travelled to Sikkim via Melli checkpost are in quarantine and the bus driver has also been tested, he said.
Though the COVID-19 patient was initially symptomatic, he is now asymptomatic and stable, Bhutia added.
Source: Thanks WIONews.com