Guwahati, March 19 (PTI): A man suspected to be infected with coronavirus was nabbed from a Silchar-bound train on Thursday, days after he fled a quarantine facility in Kerala, the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) said. The 24-year-old was later admitted to the isolation ward of a hospital in Assam, it said in a statement. Following the incident, all passengers on-board the Sealdah-Silchar Kanchanjunga Express were screened and advised home isolation. The person was nabbed while he was returning his home in Assam's Morigaon district. He fled the quarantine centre in Kerala, travelled on a train to Chennai, took another train to Howrah and then boarded the Kanchanjunga Express at Sealdah station in Kolkata, it said.
"The RPF was informed by the Morigaon additional superintendent of police that a person from the district had jumped quarantine in Kerala," NFR CPRO said. The man was traced from the general coach of the train when it stopped at New Bongaigaon railway station, he said. "The man was immediately de-boarded and screened at the station. He was admitted to a railway hospital at New Bongaigaon, where he is under watch," the chief public relation officer informed.
RAILWAY MEASURES TO PREVENT SPREAD OF COVID-19
1. To discourage unnecessary travel and to prevent the vulnerable category of Senior Citizens from undertaking unnecessary travels, concessional booking of all tickets except Patients, students and Divyangjan category for Unreserved & Reserved segment are being suspended form 00:00 hrs of March 20 till further advisory.
2. As a precautionary measure and to discourage nonessential travel and overcrowding of trains, so far total 155 pairs of low occupancy trains are cancelled up to 31.03.20. NFR has also cancelled 16 pairs of trains with low occupancy(less than 30%).
3. Indian Railways has also facilitated return of students stranded in Northern part of country due to sudden closure of Educational Institutions to their homes in Southern, North-Eastern and Eastern regions of India.
4. Advisories are being issued to passengers to avoid non-essential train journeys and to ensure that they do not have running fever while they are commencing the journey. At any point of journey if passenger feels that he is having fever, he can contact the Railway Staff for medical attention and further assistance.
5. To avoid unnecessary crowding at Railway Stations in wake of spread of COVID 19, it has been decided to raise the price of Platform Ticket wherever necessary.
6. Regular Announcement are being done on PA System of Railway Stations & Trains to sensitize the public about various Do’s & Don’ts highlighting :
a) Keeping hands clean by frequent washing of hands;
b) Maintain social distance & covering the mouth while sneezing and coughing;
c) Precautions to be taken if one has running fever-(don’t travel and report immediately to the Doctor);
d) Not spitting anywhere in the public place and Railway premises and
e) Avoid overcrowding & to ensure distancing between passengers in trains including local passenger trains.
Source: Chief Public Relations Officer, Northeast Frontier Railways
