JEYPORE: A Pregnant woman who was under institutional quarantine at Koraput delivered a baby boy at the facility on Wednesday night. The woman and newborn have been shifted to District Headquarters Hospital (DHH) at Jeypore.

Migrant labourers Srimati Jani and her husband Saiba Jani of Pradhaniput village under Borigumma block had returned from Andhra Pradesh on May 12 along with six other labourers in an SUV that they had hired. 

All of them were engaged in brick kilns at Bhadrachalam in the neighbouring state. While they were quarantined along with 22 others in the temporary medical centre (TMC) at Kathargaoda under Borigumma block, the couple was screened and asked to remain under home quarantine as Srimati was in her last stage of pregnancy. When the couple went to its village, locals did not allow them to enter fearing coronavirus infection. 

With no other way out, Srimati and Saiba had to return to the quarantine facility where along with 27 inmates including three women, they were kept in one hall.

When Srimati went into labour on Wednesday night, the TMC staff vacated the hall and informed Sarpanch and ASHA worker. But before they could arrive, Srimati’s pain increased and two women inmates - Ramani Khira and Padma Jani - helped her deliver a baby boy. 

After the Sarpanch and ASHA worker reached the TMC, they shifted the mother and child to Kumuli Primary Health Centre but as the newborn was underweight they were again shifted to the DHH. Doctors in the DHH said condition of Srimati and her child is stable now. 

Since the couple was asymptomatic, their swab samples have not been collected for test.Koraput DRDA Project Administrator Prabir Kumar Nayak, who is monitoring the TMC, however, refuted that the women including Srimati were kept in one hall along with men in the centre. He said women inmates were given separate rooms to stay.

2 pregnant women test positive
Berhampur: Two pregnant women were found Covid-19 positive in Polasara block of Ganjam district on Thursday. While one was lodged at a quarantine facility in Kendubadi village,the other was in a similar facility in Rumagada. They have been admitted to Covid-19 hospital at Berhampur.