Odisha’s Covid curve keeps climbing

15 new cases in Puri; havildar positive in Malkangiri; 2 local cases in Rourkela.
A full packed lane of Bapuji Nagar in Bhubaneswar on Monday. (Photo| Biswanath Swain, EPS)
A full packed lane of Bapuji Nagar in Bhubaneswar on Monday. (Photo| Biswanath Swain, EPS)

Two doctors of a health centre in Kalahandi are among the 112 new coronavirus positive cases that were reported in the State on Friday. Among three cases that came to fore in the Western Odisha district, two are AYUSH doctors of Narla CHC and they had come in contact with a patient, who was later detected positive. The patient had completed his seven-day quarantine in a TMC and returned home. He visited the CHC recently for a health checkup and was found positive. Consequently, the doctors stayed in home quarantine.

The CHC has been sanitised and swab samples of all the health staff have been collected for test. The third positive cases was a returnee from Telangana. The highest of 15 positive cases were reported from Puri. All the patients had returned from various parts of the country and were quarantine.  Four cases were reported from Rourkela city including two local cases from an area close to the Rourkela main road in the last 24 hours. The area was buffer zone of the previous containment zone along the Rourkela main road which alone had reported 34 Covid-19 positive cases in the recent past. Both the local cases are women, belonging to the same family. The city’s tally stands at 40.

Collector Nikhil Pawan Kalyan informed that two persons had returned from New Delhi and Tamil Nadu and were in institutional quarantine. The rest cases are contacts of previous positive patients who were identified through contact tracing. Sources close to the two women (aged between 44 to 48 years) said one’s husband died of cardiac arrest on June 7 but he was suffering from fever and cold. They suspect that the man was infected with coronavirus as he used to travel to crowded markets to sell garments and subsequently, transmitted the virus to his wife and sister-in-law.

However, it is not officially known if the deceased man was ever tested for Covid-19. The total positive case count of Sundargarh rose to 122.Six coronavirus cases, all returnees who are in quarantine, were reported from Ganjam on the day. Ganjam administration informed that till Thursday, five persons had died of the disease in the district. The fifth death was reported on Thursday when a positive patient who had returned from West Bengal died at the Covid-19 hospital. His daughter and wife have also been affected and they are under treatment at the dedicated hospital. The victim hails from Sundarpur village under Chatrapur block. Ganjam virus tally stands at 658.

Similarly, six positive cases were detected in Angul in the last 24 hours. Five new Covid-19 positive cases were detected in Sambalpur district on Friday. Among them, one was a Russia returnee and the rest were under quarantine. A 21-year-old female had returned from Russia and she was home quarantine in Sambalpur after her arrival.In Jajpur, three new cases were reported on Friday. They are all returnees from Tamil Nadu and Surat and were under quarantine. The patients belong to Barachana, Korei and Jajpur blocks.

In another development, the Jajpur administration has declared Erbank- Paramaniksahi village under Earbank gram panchayat of Bari block and Palasa, Ambagadia village under Karada gram panchayat of Korei block as containment zone. Two Covid-19 positive cases were reported from these villages on Friday. The restrictions will remain in place till June 26, Collector Ranjan Kumar Das informed. 

Related Stories

No stories found.
The New Indian Express
www.newindianexpress.com