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Odisha recorded its highest increase in a single day in positive cases of coronavirus disease (Covid-19), as 21 people were found to be infected with SARS-CoV-2, which causes the disease, and the overall count in the status increased to 206 on Thursday.
The 21 new positive cases of Covid-19 were migrant workers, including 17 and four from Ganjam and Mayurbhanj districts, respectively, who had recently returned home from the industrial city of Surat in Gujarat, the health and welfare department said. familiar from the state in a tweet.
A 20-year-old girl is among the 17 new positive cases of Covid-19 reported from the Ganjam coastal district. While the Mayurbhanj district green zone label was removed when four migrant workers tested positive for Covid-19. All of the new positive cases of Covid-19 are asymptomatic and have been kept in quarantine centers upon their return to Odisha, health department officials said.
On Wednesday, nine other migrant workers, who recently returned from Surat, tested positive for Covid-19 in the Jagatsinghpur, Ganjam and Kendrapara districts.
Of the 206 Covid-19 positive cases in the state, about half have returned from Surat or Kolkata.
As of Wednesday, 35,540 migrant workers had returned to Odisha. Another five lakhs are expected to arrive in the coming weeks, and the state government has arranged an equal number of quarantine beds in around 12,000 makeshift medical camps.
State health department officials said the curve is unlikely to flatten in the coming days, as Odisha expects an influx of stranded migrant workers.
Odisha reported her first positive Covid-19 cases in 37 days, and the number doubled in just 11 days, raising concern for the state government.
On March 15, only one Khurda district had reported a positive case of Covid-19, but since then it has spread to 16 of the state’s 30 districts.
Special Aid Commissioner Pradeep Kumar Jena has called on all district collectors and municipal commissioners to ensure the on-site registration of returned migrants not enrolled in temporary medical camps immediately upon arrival from other states.
To make matters worse, hundreds of migrants, who returned from Surat, failed to comply with state government guidelines and did not register their vehicles on the Covid-19 portal giving details of the trip.
The government is concerned about the rampant violation of the rules that its containment plans pay for.
For example, in some quarantine centers in the Ganjam district, more than 100 returned migrants fled in protest against the lack of food and water and otherwise threw “unpleasant” food.
Authorities have booked seven people at a quarantine center in the Bhadrak coastal district to shoot a video in violation of social distancing rules.
Accusations are also circulating about some returned migrants, who sneak quietly out of the quarantine centers late at night to spend time with their families.
Although the state government has issued stern warnings against such indiscretions, officials said they did not want to be seen harshly in their approach when dealing with migrants.
“Don’t look at the returning migrants, as they have returned from states that have emerged as Covid-19 hot spots. Although some of them have tested positive for Covid-19, we must treat them appropriately,” said Subroto Bagchi, spokesman for the state government at Covid-19.
“Returnees have the same rights as anyone else who lives in Odisha. In fact, they have more rights over the state’s resources, as they are in danger due to the loss of their livelihoods due to blockade restrictions, “he added.
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