UMERKOTE: In its effort to contain the Covid spread in Nabarangpur, the district administration has put in place several protective measures in villages sharing borders with Chhattisgarh but there seems to be no respite from the spiralling cases.
On Thursday, 37 new Covid cases were detected in Nabarangpur, taking the tally to 591. The fresh cases included a number of infected persons in the bordering blocks of Chandahandi, Raighar and Umerkote. In the last one week, 123 positive cases have been detected in Chandahandi while Raighar and Umerkote have reported 94 and 88 cases respectively.
Sources said though most of the routes to neighbouring Chhattisgarh have been sealed, the spread of infection is yet to be checked. Meanwhile, the State government extended night curfew timings from 6 pm to 5 am and announced weekend shutdown in the district from April 17 in view of the prevailing situation.
Earlier, the night curfew, which was enforced in the district from March 29, was effective from 10 pm to 5 am. Residents had urged the district administration to impose the curfew from 6 pm instead of 10 pm to prevent gatherings at market and public places. Subsequently, the administration extended the curfew from 8 pm to 6 am curfew from March 25 to 28. However, the restrictions were lifted a day before ‘Dola Purnima’ and Holi following which people in large numbers celebrated the festival of colours in violation of Covid guidelines.
On the other hand, Nabarangpur is facing acute shortage of Covid vaccines since the last four days. In absence of doses, all the vaccination centres across the district have been closed. Chief district medical officer (CDMO) Choudhury Sobharani Misra said the fresh vaccine stock will reach Nabarangpur on Thursday. The CDMO admitted that less number of doses is being issued to the district compared to the demand.