BHUBANESWAR: Even as cyclone Amphan spared Ganjam, much to the relief of its residents especially farmers, the district reported six Covid-19 positive cases on Wednesday. Of the six cases, five are from quarantine centres while one is a local. Sources said three of them had returned from Maharashtra and two from Gujarat. As many as 23 patients, undergoing treatment at the Covid hospital in Sitalpalli recovered and were discharged on the day. With this the number of those who have recovered from the disease has gone up to 132 while the tally of positive cases has shot up to 313 including two deaths.
The administration on the day released 236 migrant workers from quarantine centres across the district. All of them had tested negative for the virus. Of them, 118 are are Seragada block, 112 from Dharakota and six from Rangelimunda. They were issued discharge certificates but asked to remain in seven-day quarantine at their homes as a precautionary measure. The migrants, lodged in quarantine centres, are being trained so that their services can be used as community health workers. Several of those released on the day were given certificates designating them as Covid-19 workers.
Meanwhile, after detection of a positive case from Liakhai in Chikiti block a couple of days back, Collector Vijay Amruta Kulange declared the village as a containment zone. He directed the officials to form special teams for conducting house-to-house surveillance, clinical management of all cases as per protocol, educate people and establish effective communication strategies. Orders were issued to ensure doorstep delivery essentials to the villagers and sanitise the area.
After relaxations in lockdown norms, the number of returnees to the district has increased. At present, as many as 59,573 persons have been kept in 1,295 quarantine centres across the district. As many as 160 migrant workers from Telangana arrived at Rayagada railway station on a Shramik special train on the day. The workers are from Gajapati, Rayagada, Koraput, Nabarangpur, Malkangiri and Kandhamal districts.They were received by Rayagada Collector Pramod Kumar Behera and his team and sent to their respective districts in 13 special buses.