KARAIKAL: At least 12 residents of a privately-run old age home in Karaikal have tested positive for Covid-19 over the past three days.
It is learnt that none of the inmates were vaccinated.
“We suspect that people in the home might have contracted the infection through visitors. Two elderly persons tested positive earlier this week. Later, 10 more people tested positive," said K Mohanraj, Deputy Director of Health Services Department.
According to sources, there were about 30 senior citizens residing in the home. Officials have requested the rest of the inmates to get vaccinated and ruled out the possibility of vaccinating the infected persons for a month at least.
The residents, who tested positive, were shifted to the Karaikal Government General Hospital and the home has been disinfected. In the past 10 days, Karaikal, which is part of the Union Territory of Puducherry, saw more than 100 new Covid-19 cases and 10 deaths.
As many as 32 new cases were confirmed on Friday. The active cases in the district stood at 192 and toll at 81. As on Friday, Karaikal's Covid-19 tally stood at 4,367.
Collector Arjun Sharma said, "The pace of vaccination has increased. I urge people to get vaccinated as the virus is spreading again. We can see that there is a decrease in the adherence to Covid-19 safety guidelines among the public. This should be rectified. We will increase the number of tests and intensify contact tracing."
Karaikal SSP Niharika Bhatt said, "We have increased the fine for violation of Covid-19 guidelines in the past one week. We also appeal to the people participating in election campaigns to follow the safety guidelines."