VIZIANAGARAM: For the past three days, 15 people — including an infant, a senior citizen and a 10-year-old boy — were forced to stay in a cattle shed without electricity, and with scorpions and snakes slithering in. The reason: They were sent out of their village as one of their direct contacts tested positive for coronavirus.
The villagers of Ethamanuvalasa in Vizianagaram district’s Pachipenta mandal ostracised these 15 people as officials only took the infectee to hospital and didn’t shift the primary contacts to a quarantine centre. “We had no food or other basic amenities in the cattle shed,” said one of the 15, adding that their samples were not collected for testing till Friday. Another person from the group said their makeshift tents were almost blown away when it rained a couple of days ago. “We were not allowed home though the villagers saw our plight,” he rued.
When contacted, Pachipenta tahsildar MV Ramana Murthy said the mandal doesn’t have a quarantine centre, and the nearest one is full, hence the infectee’s direct contacts were advised home quarantine. “But out of fear, the other villagers sent them out. When we heard about it, we went to the village with judicial officials and counselled the villagers. Finally, they were allowed home and told to stay isolated till their results arrive,” he added.