Patrapur emerges as a real challenge

Bhubaneswar: If Ganjam’s rising Covid cases is giving the state sleepless nights, then the situation in Patrapur block in the district is proving to be the most challenging for the local administration.
Sharing its border with Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh and a predominantly tribal presence, the block has so far reported nearly 256 Covid positive cases and three deaths in the last three months.
The block has more than 100 tribal villages spread across four to five panchayats like Tumba, Buratal, Ankuli, Samantarapur and Turubudi in the hilly terrain, making it even more difficult for the local administration to contain the virus spread.
“Some tribal people have tested positive for Covid in the Ankuli panchayat. We tested their swab samples as part of a contact-tracing strategy that followed the detection of positive cases in a local market. But most of the interior villages are free from infection. We have been trying hard to contain the spread among the tribal community,” said Prakash Chandra Das, block development officer (BDO), Patrapur.
The BDO said district officials, including medical teams, have been visiting these tribal villages to create awareness among the people about Covid-19 and urging them to take precautions against the virus. Besides, door-to-door screening is also on.
To check the movement of people between the villages of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh, the local ward committees have been asked to step in.
Hemalata Jani, sarpanch of Tumba gram panchayat and the person leading the fight against the virus in her area, said not a single tribal people in her panchayat has tested positive for Covid.
“We have engaged four Covid monitors including two tribal youths, who visit the villages to make people aware about social distancing norms and the use of masks. In case of any symptoms among people, the monitors report it to the officials. This way, we have managed to contain the spread of the virus in our panchayat,” said Jani.
District collector Vijay Amruta Kulange, who recently visited Tumba panchayat to take stock of the situation, said involvement of community is the key to contain the spread.
“It is very important to involve people in the community to successfully handle a pandemic situation. We have engaged volunteers apart from our health workers to create awareness among the tribals. Training is being conducted on how to screen people. It’s heartening to note that many of the tribals are wearing masks,” said Kulange.
As stigma associated with the disease could be forcing the tribal people not to come forward for reporting symptoms in this area, officials said they have requested people not to hide symptoms.