Odisha police station staff sent on quarantine after accused tests positive

In Puri town, 30-odd policemen including the inspector of Kumbharpada police station were sent into 28 day institutional quarantine after an arrested accused brought to the police station tested positive for coronavirus.

The entire staff of a police station in Puri district went into quarantine after an accused who was brought to the police station, tested positive for Covid-19.

The entire staff of a police station in Puri district went into quarantine after an accused who was brought to the police station, tested positive for Covid-19. (Image for representation)

In Puri town, 30-odd policemen including the inspector of Kumbharpada police station were sent into 28 day institutional quarantine after an arrested accused brought to the police station tested positive for coronavirus. Puri SP Umashankar Dash said swabs of all police personnel will be sent for tests tomorrow.

New staff has been sent to the police station to take over after proper sanitisation.

In coastal Balasore district that now lies in the danger zone of cyclone Amphan, a 42-year-old woman sarpanch of Simulia block tested positive while another person working in a quarantine centre running in a government college tested positive, too. Officials said the sarpanch most likely was infected while going around the quarantine centres.

In Odisha, sarpanch have been declared pointsmen in the government’s fight against the pandemic with the government empowering them with the power of collectors while dealing with Covid-19.

Ganjam district continued to be the epicentre of Covid-19 cases as the number of infected rose to 292 followed by Jajpur with 121 and Balasore with 119 cases. The virus has now spread in 22 of the 30 districts in Odisha.

Barring 3, all the 91 who tested positive on Sunday had returned from Gujarat, Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. So far, 1.15 lakh people, who were stranded in other states amid lockdown, have returned to Odisha.

In Ganjam district, a 38-year-old Surat returnee who had tested positive, succumbed to diarrhoea. With this, Odisha reported four deaths due to Covid-19.

The Odisha government meanwhile said that over 7,200 under-trial prisoners and convicts have been released from prison on bail and parole in last 40 days to decongest the jails. “As many as 7,255 prisoners, including 389 convicts, have been released as a temporary measure to decongest the jails by following a thorough judicial process since the third week of March,” said a senior jail official.