Agartala, Aug 17 (UNI) Four persons succumbed to Covid-19 last night in Tripura, taking the death toll in the state to 59 while the total number of people sickened by the virus jumped to 7240, including Law Secretary of the state and three other officers and employees of the department.These are the first instances Covid infections in the state secretariat that triggered fear in the capital complex.However, health officials stated that the law department offices, including the chamber of Law Secretary, have been sealed and the offices and nearby areas are sanitized. All the employees posted in the offices have been asked to go under quarantine while the contact tracing of the people who came in contact with the officers is underway.According to the reports, recently, Covid infections in the state have been on a steep rise, giving the state administration sleepless nights.Tension rose after various departments of Agartala Government Medical College (AGMC), where dedicated Covid hospital was set up, reported Covid cases one after the other.The AGMC authorities said all precautions were taken to contain the spread of the disease in the hospital, however, when asymptomatic patients came to the hospital, doctors attend them.Before admission, all patients have to go rapid antigen test to check if they are infected, they said.As a result, chances of infection in the hospital workers and doctors are relatively high, and except for safety measures, nothing much can be done, added the hospital authorities.
“Covid-19 is not seasonal or an outbreak restricted to a time period. We have a limited number of doctors, who have to treat a large number of patients referred to various departments from hospitals across the state for super specialists’ care. So, we have to manage all the patients, including those infected with Covid, and take risk,” said a top official of the health department.He stated altogether 13 people, including a retired doctor, have succumbed to Covid-19 infection over the past three days and all of them were had underlying conditions like high blood sugar, renal complications, liver related illnesses among other conditions.During Covid treatment, critical health conditions cannot be effectively managed simultaneously, leading to the death of such patients, he said.