DEHRADUN: A 26-year-old trainee forest service officer from the Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy (IGNFA) was on Sunday found coronavirus positive, making it the first confirmed case of the disease in the Himalayan state.
The officer had returned from an international study tour to Spain, Finland and Russia along with other probationers on March 11. In all, 62 trainee officers had gone on a study tour of these countries.
All the probationers were put under quarantine since they returned. As reported by TOI on Saturday, blood samples of six of the trainees who had showed symptoms of cough, cold and fever had been sent for testing. Sources said that while one of the samples has been found to be positive, the reports of the rest are yet to be received.
Officials said that the trainee officer who has tested positive for the virus was showing “mild symptoms and therefore holds strong chances of easy recovery.”
“We are following strict protocols as laid down by the ministry of health and all the probationers are in quarantine. Although we have received the positive case information from the health authorities, we are yet to see the report,” said SK Awasthi, additional director of IGNFA.
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So far, Uttarakhand has put 544 people in quarantine of which 187 are still under observation. In all, 29 blood samples of suspected people have been sent for test to Susheela Tiwari Government Medical College in Haldwani.
On Sunday, four additional samples were sent for test, including those of an Italian woman tourist who was visiting Rishikesh and is reported to be suffering from cough, cold and fever.