Nagaland reports first COVID-19 case

A man from Nagaland has tested positive for novel coronavirus, the first case reported from the state, an official said on Monday.

The 33-year-old man with coronavirus-like symptoms was admitted to a hospital in Assam's Guwahati, where he tested positive for COVID-19, the official said.

Assam Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma tweeted that a private hospital in Dimapur referred a patient to the Guwahati Medical College Hospital after he was found with symptoms of COVID-19.

He has tested positive and is undergoing treatment. The patient is not linked to the Tablighi Jamaat event at Nizamuddin in New Delhi, Sarma said.

The man arrived in Dimapur on March 24 in a flight from Kolkata, an official of the Nagaland government said.

He was advised home quarantine for 14 days from the date of his arrival in Dimapur, but he fell sick and was admitted to a hospital on April 8.

He was shifted to the Guwahati facility on Sunday as his health condition deteriorated.

Meanwhile, the Nagaland government has sealed various locations in Dimapur, including the patient's residential area- Marwaripatti and Ghorapatti- and the hospital where he was initially admitted, the official said.

Doctors, nurses and other staff of the hospital in Dimapur, who came in contact with the patient have been quarantined, he said, adding efforts are on to identify his co-passengers in the flight.

Meanwhile, a special committee on COVID-19 in the district decided that the wholesale market at GS Road Dimapur and retail shops at Marwaripatti and Ghorapatti, will remain closed until further orders.

The committee has appealed to citizens not to panic as it said precautionary measures are being taken to tackle the current situation.