JORHAT, March 14 - All the 22 foreign tourists, who were on board the luxury cruise vessel MV Mahabahu Brahmaputra anchored at a secluded sapori (sandbar) of the Brahmaputra river at Nimatighat near here since March 7, on Saturday flew to Kolkata.
It may be mentioned here that the cruise vessel, which had reached Nimatighat on March 7 from Guwahati, was asked by the Jorhat district administration to be anchored for a seven-day period with all its occupants (22 foreign tourists and 34 crew members) after an American tourist earlier travelling on the boat tested positive for COVID-19 in Bhutan on March 6.
All the boat occupants were quarantined with the administration not letting them visit mainland (Jorhat) or any other nearby areas. The boat and the occupants were under close watch of the administration with a local medical team visiting each day to take stock of the health condition of the people on board.
Jorhat deputy commissioner Roshni A Korati told The Assam Tribune this evening that as the seven-day period ended on Friday all 22 foreign nationals were allowed to leave the vessel and the administration facilitated them to board a flight to Kolkata today.
Korati said all the foreign tourists were expected to fly out to their respective countries from Kolkata. She said the cruise boat with all 34 crew members too left Nimatighat and sailed towards Subansiri Ghat, Lakhimpur.
She further informed that the driver who brought the US tourist to the Thengal Manor resort from the Jorhat airport on February 22 and again dropped him at Nimatighat the following day, was traced and tested for coronavirus but the report was found to be negative.
It may be mentioned here that on March 7 a team of medics from Jorhat Medical College and Hospital visited MV Mahabahu Brahmaputra and carried out health check-up of all the people on board and no symptoms of COVID-19 were found.
