Official put COVID vaccine drive on cards for Odisha's Nagada village

As many as five children of the village were diagnosed with fever due to malaria while 17 others had 'general viral fever'.
A woman suffering from fever in Odisha's Nagada. (Photo| EPS)
A woman suffering from fever in Odisha's Nagada. (Photo| EPS)

JAJPUR: A special medical team was on Sunday pressed in for health-check of the inhabitants of Nagada village, which had hogged headlines over child malnutrition five years back, in wake of reports that many of them are suffering from fever.

The medical team found fever among the tribal people but no COVID test has been carried out yet. As many as five children of the village were diagnosed with fever due to malaria while 17 others had 'general viral fever', official sources said.

"A special medical team was sent to Nagada village on receipt of information that several tribals are affected by fever. A total of 51 blood samples were collected from the fever-stricken tribals. From the test, five were diagnosed to have malaria and 17 others had general viral fever," said Dr Jayadev Nanda, medical officer of Sukinda Community Health Centre.

Nanda said, the villagers have been given medication and next course of action on COVID test would be taken after assessing their response. He said the local health administration is watchful about Nagada and taking all steps. "A medical team is being sent to the tribal village for health check-up every week," he said.

Though a large number of people belonging to different tribal communities of the state have been hit by the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, not a single tribal of Nagada has officially been detected with the infection in both the first and second wave of the pandemic.

Located on a hilltop in Sukinda block, Nagada, a revenue village, comprises three settlements - Tala Nagada, Upara Nagada and Majhi Nagada. Approximately 320 people from Juang tribe stay in 63 households spread over the three 'sahis'. This tribe is one of the 13 particularly vulnerable tribal groups (PVTGs) of the state.

Nagada had hogged national headlines for a series of child deaths in 2016. The tribal people here are least bothered about the pandemic and many of them do not even know what coronavirus is. They have little clue about use of face mask and social distancing. "We don't know what a mask is. There is no coronavirus here. We are safe by the blessings of God," said Agunia Pradhan, a resident. The district administration claimed that it is very watchful.

"We plan to go for a massive vaccination drive in Nagada village in the coming days. We will also launch an awareness drive to educate tribals on use of face masks by every individual and maintain social distancing," Jajpur Collector Chakravarti Singh Rathore said.

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