Fear has gripped residents of Tripura’s Dhalai district after the detection of 40 Covid-19 cases among BSF jawans of its 138th Battalion in two subdivisions.

Thirteen cases were confirmed on Tuesday from BSF’s 138th at Ambassa in Dhalai district, 90km from here, where a head constable and a constable tested positive for the virus on Monday. Twelve more jawans had tested positive on Sunday and 13 on Monday.

“The situation is turning worse. The positive cases were two at first and now it has increased to 40. I run a grocery store within the containment zone in Gandacherra and my shop is near the subdivisional hospital as well. We are living in fear,” Sanjay Saha, 37, told The Telegraph.

Saha said they are facing several difficulties since the number of Covid-19 patients has shot up.

“We have never seen such a dangerous situation. After the number of patients increased, I shut down my shop. Tension has filled the area and we don’t know when this pandemic will end,” he added.

Manik Debnath of Ambassa subdivision where the BSF battalion headquarters are situated, said the situation was frightening and the people are expecting that there might be more positive cases.

“The entire subdivision looks deserted after 40 BSF jawans tested positive. Tension has gripped not only the subdivision but also the entire district. We are not going out of our houses. We have stored all essential items. If it is very urgent, then only we go out,” Debnath said.

Dhalai district magistrate Brahmeet Kaur said the administration and health department are conducting house-to-house surveillance within the containment zones to find out if any civilians had come in contact with the affected BSF jawans and the residents in the containment zone are in quarantine.

The frontline staff, including Asha and Anganwadi workers, are working in the field.

Additional chief secretary (health), S.K. Rakesh, said, “We are continuously spraying disinfectant across the district. Red zone protocol will be followed in Dhalai. Civilians and vehicles are not allowed to move except in any emergency situation. Only the shops providing essential services will be open.”

Additional inspector-general of police (law and order), Subrata Chakraborty, told this correspondent that nobody was venturing out of their homes after the number of novel coronavirus patients increased.

“The entire Dhalai district has been gripped by tension and anxiety but steps are being taken to convince people to stay indoors and stay without fear. We have set up nakas (checkpoints) and patrolling is also going on. Section 144 of CrPC has already been imposed,” Chakraborty said.