Jamal Uddin tested negative news is false; "There is no question of conducting a second test now," Dr. Bhaskar Gupta

“The news of Jamal Uddin tested negative in his second sample test is totally false and baseless as there was no successive test carried out yet,” Dr. Bhaskar Gupta, Vice Principal of SMCH said on Friday while holding the daily scheduled press conference at Silchar Civil Hospital.

The clarification was necessitated, as one of the leading newspapers carried a piece of news on its front page on Friday, stating that Jamal Uddin tested negative in his second test. The news was also carried by an English daily broadsheet.

Dr. Gupta added that according to the protocol, the second sample test is done only after the patient is asymptomatic for at least 72 hours. “Patient is still having all signs and symptoms and therefore there is no question of conducting the second sample test now. The news is totally false,” he mentioned.

Suman Choudhury, official spokesperson of District Health Service said that a show-cause notice has been issued against the media houses who ran the news and action will be taken thereafter. “Under District Disaster Management 2005 we have issued a show-cause notice to two media houses that ran the news. Based on their reply appropriate action will be initiated by the administration” he said.

It can be mentioned here that Jamal Uddin, Assam’s first Corona patient, was admitted at Silchar Medical College and Hospital last Sunday after he complained of all the symptoms that a person infected by the virus shows. His sample was first tested at SMCH and later at Pune. He was declared as Corona Positive on Tuesday.