JAGATSINGHPUR: A few months back, when most parts of the State were beginning to encounter the severity of coronavirus, Jagatsinghpur was a green zone, surprisingly spared by the viral onslaught. But the times have changed fast and the industrial district has become a cause of concern for the State Government with the port town Paradip being one of the worst-hit places.
Till first week of May, not a single case was reported from Jagatsinghpur, a district which enjoyed the green zone tag to the relief of residents. But in next three months, as many as 2,882 positive cases have been detected in the district with Paradip reporting the highest 547.
Though the district administration put in place various precautionary measures to control the situation, there has been no respite from positive cases as people continue to violate Covid 19 guidelines.
The spurt in Covid-19 cases, mostly local, has been more evident after relaxation of lockdown restrictions. Sources said the main cause of the rise in infection is blatant violation social distancing and mask norms by the public, especially shopkeepers. Initially, all the Covid cases were reported from quarantine centres where all migrant workers were housed.
The residents were relieved since there was no local transmission. However, their joy was short-lived as the infection spread like a wildfire after the quarantine centres were closed down since the flow of migrants stopped.
Most of the local positive cases were in home quarantine while some were not even isolated. The sarpanchs, who were assigned the task to manage Covid situation in rural areas, did not bother to restrict family members of infected patients from mingling with people.
Sources said there were reports of shopkeepers, who were relatives of infected persons, doing business without undergoing tests, thereby leading to a spike in positive cases in many areas of the district. Now, Jagatsinghpur is reporting over 100 positive cases on a daily basis. Of the total 2,882 Covid-19 cases, 1,957 have recovered and 819 are active.
So far, the district has reported six deaths. With the positive cases all set to cross the 3,000 mark, the residents are living in panic.
Though the district administration has launched a crackdown on Covid violators by imposing hefty fines, the action has yielded no result as people continue to take the virus lightly and are in no mood to adhere to the social distancing norm.