BERHAMPUR: Authorities of MKCG MCH heaved a sigh of relief after the swab samples of 80 medical staff tested negative for Covid-19 even as three new cases were reported in Ganjam district on Thursday, including an inmate of Circle jail here.
Samples of health staff were collected on Tuesday and Wednesday after four doctors and eight nurses of the MCH tested coronavirus positive recently.Sources informed that the under trial prisoner had been arrested on June 3 and his sample was collected before he was brought to Circle jail.
Contact tracing is underway but Ganjam administration is yet to reveal his source of infection. Earlier, two inmates of the jail were found infected and consequently, the jail doctor was quarantined in his home.
On the other hand, two persons in quarantine died in the last 24 hours. A migrant who had returned to Adapada under Sanakhemundi block and was under home isolation after completing institutional quarantine period, fell ill on Wednesday evening. He was brought to Adapada hospital where he succumbed. The other deceased was an inmate of Biridabili TMC under Dharakote block.
Seventeen patients recovered on the day and the tally now stands at 652.
More returnees in coronavirus grip
Nine returnees of Mayurbhanj district have been infected with coronavirus in the last 24 hours. They belong to Bangiriposi, Suliapada, Udala, Gopabandhunagar, Moroda and Betnoti blocks and had returned from New Delhi, West Bengal, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Haryana and Tamil Nadu.Collector Vineet Bhardwaj said all of them were under quarantine at TMCs, which have been sanitised after the cases were detected.
Angul, similarly, reported six new cases on the day and all of them had returned from Tamil Nadu. They had been lodged at a quarantine facility at Chhendipada.
In Kalahandi, two new cases were detected taking the tally to 38. The two infected women belong to Narla block. Both had returned from Maharashtra and were in quarantine. They have been admitted to Covid-19 hospital at Bhawanipatna.On the other hand, Koraput health administration on Thursday traced 14 persons who came in contact with a Covid-19 positive patient.
The patient, who returned from West Bengal on June 5, was found positive on Wednesday. He was under home quarantine but had come in contact with many persons during his travel back home. He had taken a train from Kolkata to Bhubaneswar and from there, he travelled in a car to Khurda. The patient had then boarded a bus to Koraput.During his contact tracing, the health officials found out 14 persons who travelled with him in the car and bus. They include the driver, helper and conductor of the bus.