Odisha village adjacent to Chhattisgarh reports 29 positive cases of Covid-19

As the village is contiguous to Chhattisgarh, where a spurt in cases has been reported, it is suspected that the villagers got the infection from there. Following the sudden surge in Covid-19 cases, the local sarpanch has announced the closure of the weekly market to be held tomorrow.

Published on: Mar 24, 2021, 23:36:19 IST

By Debabrata Mohanty

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A village in the western Odisha district of Nuapara reported 29 positive cases of Covid-19 on a day in which the state reported 170 new cases taking the total number of active infections beyond 1000.

Officials in Nuapara district said 29 people of the Brahamanpada village under Sinapali block have tested positive for the viral infection.

The BDO of Sinapali said a total of 56 samples were collected from the village for testing of which 29 tested positive for Covid-19. As the village is contiguous to Chhattisgarh, where a spurt in cases has been reported, it is suspected that the villagers got the infection from there. Following the sudden surge in Covid-19 cases, the local sarpanch has announced the closure of the weekly market to be held tomorrow.

Nabarangpur district in southern Odisha became the second district after Malkangiri to have night curfew. The Nabarangpur district administration decided to impose night curfew between 8 pm and 6 am beginning Thursday.

In the state capital of Bhubaneswar, police will make attempts to ensure that people follow Covid-19 appropriate behaviour like wearing masks, maintaining social distance.

“In the last few days, we have observed that Covid-19 infections have recorded a slight increase in our city. We want to first sensitize people that it is of utmost importance to contain this increase in Covid-19 infections,” said Police Commissioner Soumendra Priyadarshi. “We will sensitize people on this and then enforce strictly mask wearing and social distancing.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Debabrata Mohanty
Debabrata Mohanty is a senior assistant editor of Hindustan Times who works as state correspondent from Odisha covering the state's politics, governance, public policy, natural disasters, environment and its society for close to three decades. With his long years of reporting from the state capital of Bhubaneswar, Mohanty has been known as one of the most experienced and credible journalists covering Odisha for the national English dailies. His reporting combines on-ground detail with deep institutional knowledge detailing the state's changing politics, governance issues, administrative reforms and the functioning of its public institutions. He has regularly reported on issues ranging from legislative developments and public policy implementation. Politics is his core areas of expertise as he closely tracks Odisha's political landscape, including the rise and transformation of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), the two principal political parties in Odisha. His long association with the state's political establishment enables him to write on contemporary developments in a larger political context. Mohanty takes a deep interest in writing human interest stories, environmental issues and documenting the impact of cyclones, floods, heatwaves, and other climate-related events in one of the most disaster-prone states. His coverage extends to public health, governance reforms and stories on accountability of government institutions. Before joining Hindustan Times, Mohanty worked with The Indian Express, Mail Today, and The Telegraph, where he covered at least six general elections and as many assembly elections. In 2007, he was selected for the prestigious Chevening Young Indian Print Journalist Programme at the University of Lincoln, United Kingdom, where he received advanced training in print journalism. In 2009 he won the Press Institute of India-International Committee of Red Cross award on conflict reporting for his on-ground reportage of 2008 Kandhamal riots.Read More

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