The first case of COVID-19 in Nagaland came to light around midnight on April 12. An emergency meeting of the top officials was held at 12.30 a.m. on April 13. Health and Family Welfare Minister S. Pangu Phom presided over the meeting and high officials — members of the special committee for the pandemic — were present.
Assam Health Minister Himanta Bishwa Sarma confirmed that one person from Nagaland was found with symptoms of COVID-19. He was referred to the Guwahati Medical College Hospital. He has been tested “positive and is undergoing treatment”.
The person was rushed to Guwahati from a private hospital in Dimapur, Nagaland.
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Officials said that he came from Kolkata to Nagaland on March 24 and was advised to stay in self-quarantine for 14 days. He was also instructed to get in touch with the district surveillance unit if there were signs of the disease. He was admitted to Zion Hospital on April 8 but was discharged on April 10. He was readmitted in the private hospital on April 11. His father told the health authorities that the man had vomited blood on April 12. Later, he was taken to the Guwahati Medical College Hospital.
Nagaland officials said that the two localities, Marwaripatti and Ghorapatty, which have wholesale and retail shops had been sealed, and parents and other family members of the patient had been shifted to the government quarantine centres. Efforts were on to locate the co-passengers of the patient.
So far, all samples from Nagaland tested in J.N. Institute of Medical Sciences, Imphal, were found to be negative.
