BHUBANESWAR: The Covid tally in the Capital city jumped to 158 on Thursday after nine more persons, including three health staff of a hospital, tested positive for coronavirus.
BMC officials said three frontline workers of a Covid Hospital - two men in mid-30s and a 30-year-old woman - were tested positive for the virus, while a 53-year-old man and a 14-year-old boy of a family from Gadakana Mahima Nagar, having link with a positive case detected earlier, were also found infected.Besides, four other persons from BDA Colony, Bhimpur, Unit-VI and Nirankari Nagar of Salia Sahi, who were under home quarantine, tested Covid-19 positive.
A 25-year-old youth of Damana also recovered from the disease on the day. The total number of active cases in the city is 72. Meanwhile, increasing number of cases from Salia Sahi, the largest slum of the city, has become a matter of concern for the BMC.
An official of the corporation said after detection of a fresh case in Nirankari Nagar, the total number of active COVID-19 cases in Salia Sahi slum has increased to four. He said the other three cases had been reported from Jharanapalli and Nirankari Nagar area of the slum between June 13 and 16.
"The four cases are from two families. While one family has travel link to Delhi, the other is linked to a hospital case," the official said, adding that their primary contacts and neighbours have been quarantined and put under active surveillance.
In view of the situation, BMC Commissioner Prem Chandra Chaudhary and other officials of the civic body visited Salia Sahi on the day and reviewed measures put in place to contain further spread of the virus in the slum.
The Commissioner had a discussion with the slum dwellers, COVID Sachetaks and surveillance teams there and urged all to follow the social distancing norms and COVID-19 guidelines.