Days after a family was identified to be the source of 90 COVID-19 infections in a small hamlet in Odisha’s Rayagada district, the Sundargarh district administration traced another source that infected 95 persons in a small locality of Rourkela.
After carrying out contact-tracing in Sector-16 of Rourkela, the administration suspects that the infection had spread from one family.
The district reported 49 positive cases from Sector-16 area of Rourkela on Tuesday, while 46 new cases were detected from the same area on Wednesday. A 67-year-old man in Sector-16 was suspected to have violated home quarantine norms and caused the spread of the infection in June. He died on July 3.
The Rayagada district administration found the source in Vijaypur village, where a Tamil Nadu-returned family was suspected to have infected 90 fellow villagers. Similarly, 53 infected persons were identified in Katapali in Bargarh district. A person running a money-lending business was identified to be the source of the spread.
The Odisha government was, however, particularly concerned about the Ganjam district, which accounted for more than 25% of the State’s total count. All urban centres in the district have been shut down for five days. The border of Ganjam and Khordha district has also been sealed in order to prevent entry of people into the village.
On the request of the Odisha government, the East Coast Railways has cancelled and withdrawn stoppage of all train services passing through Ganjam from July 9 until further orders.
Director General of Police, Abhay, who visited Ganjam to take stock of the situation, said he had ordered more forces to be deployed in the area to enforce shutdown measures in Ganjam. As many as 10,624 persons, including 2,836 from Ganjam have been infected with COVID-19 in the State. Similarly, 27 out of the 48 COVID-19 deaths were from Ganjam.
In view of the situation, the government has directed all government employees, except those from Khordha and Cuttack, not to come to Bhubaneswar.
Meanwhile, 20,000 antigen test kits have arrived in the State. They will be used in different hospitals.