Gajapati extends quarantine period from 7 to 14 days

Berhampur: Worried over the spurt in Covid 19 positive cases in Gajapati district, the administration on Saturday extended the mandatory institutional quarantine period for the returnees from out of the state to 14 days from the existing seven days. The administration took this decision after some returnees tested positive for Covid-19 even after completing the seven-day institutional quarantine.
Gajapati became the second district in the state after Khurda to increase the institutional quarantine period for migrants returning from outside the state.
As many as 84 persons have been tested positive for Covid-19 so far in Gajapati district while 34 of them are undergoing treatment at the Covid hospital at R Sitapur. As many as 18 persons got cured on Saturday. The condition of all of the hospitalised persons is stated to be stable.
“It has came to notice that in some cases the returnees, who have completed 7 to 10 days of institutional quarantine in the temporary medical centres (TMCs), showed symptoms of Covid-19 and upon testing they were found to be positive. It is felt necessary to keep the returnees even after completion of mandatory period of 7 days in TMCs to contain the spread of Covid-19 in the community,” said Gajapati collector Anupam Saha.
Moreover there is no separate room and toilet available for the returnees in the households in the district for their use during home quarantine so it is difficult to isolate them from their near and dear ones in the period, he said, justifying the extension of institutional quarantine.
After completing the 14-day institutional quarantine period, one will follow another seven-day home quarantine in their respective houses. During their home quarantine period, constant surveillance by the rapid response teams about the health condition of the discharged returnees would be done, he said. While around 11,590 persons have returned to the district from different states, 2,876 of them are now under in different institutional quarantine centres in the district, an official source said.