Seven ECoR employees test positive for COVID-19

BHUBANESWAR: In the second biggest singleday spike of Covid-19 cases in the Capital, 17 more persons including seven railway employees, tested positive for novel coronavirus in the last 24 hours.

Of the seven employees of East Coast Railway (ECoR), six are from mechanical branch and one is an AC technician.

They all have travel history to New Delhi and were in home quarantine after returning from duty. A railway spokesman said the employees were engaged in maintenance of coaches in New Delhi bound special trains.

“They might have come in contact with asymptomatic passengers during travel. Further contact tracing is on,” he informed.

Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) sources said three among the 17 fresh cases are local contacts and the rest were in home quarantine.

A 62-year-old woman and 34-year-old man of one family and another 64-year-old man, all from Bhimpur area having travel history to Delhi, were diagnosed with the disease while under home isolation.

Four other individuals from the city with travel history to New Delhi also tested positive.

They included a 20-year-old girl and 15-year-old boy from a family in Nayapalli Sabar Sahi, a 25-year-old man from Dumduma HB Colony and a 24-year-old woman of another district living in a paid quarantine facility in the city.

All the patients we re in home quarantine. Among the three local cases, one is an AIIMS-Bhubaneswar doctor.

With this, the city broken its previous second highest single-day spike of Covid cases recorded on June 14. The biggest spike of 18 cases was reported in the city on April 5.

BMC officials body said, the total number of Covid-19 positive cases in Bhubaneswar rose to 149, including 64 active cases. Three persons have died while 81, including seven on the day, have recovered.

Robbery accused from Laxmisagar leaves Puri police in tizzy

BHUBANESWAR: A 55-year-old man from Bhubaneswar’s Laxmisagar, accused of robbery, has left local administration of Kanas as well as Puri police tense.

The miscreant was nabbed by locals of Raigurpur village on June 12 for allegedly snatching the vanity bag of a woman and handed over to police only to test positive for coronavirus during regular testing. He along with his associate had committed the crime within Gadisagada police limits.

A complaint was lodged next day and both were arrested. After remanded to judicial custody by a Puri Court, the 55-year tested positive while his associate was not infected.

This prompted Puri administration to declare the District Court as containment zone. But the worries have not ended as contact tracing has proved tough.

Since locals had captured him and his associate, sources said the BDO has requested the district administration to declare Raigurpur and a hamlet as containment zone too.

The authorities are at their wit’s end to ascertain how the 55-year-old contracted the virus and the accused has no clue either. There is strong possibility that he may have been infected in Bhubaneswar itself.

About 11 police personnel of Gadisagada have been sent on quarantine after coming in contact with the snatching accused.

Sarpanch declares shutdown in GP Cuttack

Sarpanch of Barado gram panchayat (GP) under Nischintakoili block Nrusingha Charan Biswal on Wednesday announced shutdown of the entire GP till June 20 after a local auto-rickshaw driver was found to have ferried two Covid-19 patients recently.

While the driver has been put under institutional quarantine in a local TMC, the health officials have started tracing his contacts.

As per reports, a couple along with their two sons who had returned from Mumbai to their native village Gopapur on May 27 had undergone institutional quarantine in a TMC at Badakhiri.

After seven days, they were released from the TMC on May 4 and asked to undergo home quarantine. Sources, however, alleged that instead of quarantining themselves, the Mumbai returnees had stayed with their family members.

The health department’s surveillance team which visited the house on June 8 noticed father and one of his minor sons suffering from cold and fever and asked them to go for Covid test on the next day.

175 fresh cases in Odisha As many as 175 persons, including 21 fire services personnel, tested positive for Covid-19 in the State taking the total number of cases to 4,338 on Wednesday.

While 145 cases were from quarantine centres, the rest 30 were local contacts. The State has 1,277 active cases after recovery of 3,046 patients and death of 11.