BHUBANESWAR: The Institute of Chemical Technology (ICT) in Gajapati Nagar was sealed after an assistant professor tested positive for coronavirus on Saturday when faculty members of three departments of Utkal University were asked to go on home quarantine after a contact was found positive for Covid-19. The assistant professor is one of the five cases reported in the City in last 24 hours, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) said.
“We have already sanitised and sealed ICT until further orders and also sent its staff on duty on home quarantine,” Municipal Commissioner Prem Chandra Chaudhary confirmed to The Express.
The BMC informed that since it was a local case, contact tracing is on to ascertain source of the infection. The faculty of ICT doesn’t have any travel history. Besides, no other staff from the institute had any symptoms or been tested positive earlier,” they said.
“We have put the staff members who came in direct contact with the patient under home quarantine and have decided to conduct their Covid test if they develop symptoms,” BMC deputy commissioner Subhendu Sahu informed. He also said that swab samples of the family members of the patient will be collected for test, while neighbours will also have to be under home quarantine for 14 days. This was the only local case among the five cases reported till Saturday morning, he said. The remaining cases are from Dumduma, Old Town, Ghatikia and Pokhariput having travel history of patients to West Bengal, Gujarat and New Delhi. The person who tested positive in Pokhariput is a Sub Inspector of Central Industrial Security Force and had returned from Ganjam district on June 3.
The rising number of local cases in the City is gradually turning into a cause of concern for the healtht and civic body officials. So far, seven local cases have been reported in the city in 48 hours. The health and BMC officials have, so far, not been able to trace contacts of a lady in Salia Sahi who tested positive after two and half months after her return from Gujarat. Till date, 86 persons have tested positive for the virus in the city of which 32 are active cases, 51 have recovered and three persons have died.