20 of 26 cases in Purnia are migrant workers who came in a packed truck
PURNIA: Altogether 15 more persons tested positive in Purnia on Saturday, taking the district’s tally to 26.
PURNIA: Altogether 15 more persons tested positive in Purnia on Saturday, taking the district’s tally to 26.
Of the total, 20 are of the migrants who reached here from Delhi on a truck with 35 others on May 3.
“But there’s no need to panic as all the 55 migrants who came on truck were quarantined on the day they reached here and hence there is no chance of the disease being spread to other places or localities,” Purnia DM Rahul Kumar said. “So far, 20 of them have tested positive and more test reports are awaited.”
Purnia’s first Covid positive patient had also reached here on a truck carrying fruits from Azadpur in Delhi on April 27.
“Almost all positive cases are related to migrants who have reached here surreptitiously,” additional chief medical officer (ACMO) of Purnia Dr S K Verma said. “The troubling part is that the migrants are still coming by hiring trucks and without going through a proper medical screening.” He expressed deep concern over those migrants who escaped medical screening and are staying in villages.
Reports coming from various sources suggest that truck owners are collecting huge money by transporting the migrants to their destination. “We had to pay Rs 3,000 each to the truck driver to ferry us to our native block Rupauli in Purnia,” one of the migrants said.
The astonishing part is that the trucks have been carrying migrants in the presence of police forces.
Seemanchal comprising of four districts Purina, Katihar, Kishanganj and Araria has been a hub of migrants. There has been a sharp rise in number of patients with 58 cases reported so far, followed by Katihar (15), Kishanganj (12) and Araria (5).
