A 35-year-old man kept in a quarantine centre of western Odisha’s Jharsuguda district, for over a week, fled on Monday even before the results of his swab sample could be out. The man’s escape has raised fears of possible Covid-19 infection in the area.
The man’s escape came even as the number of Covid-19 positive cases zoomed to 170 with the detection of one more case from Ganjam district where around 150 migrant workers fled a quarantine centre on Sunday citing lack of water.
Police officials in Jharsuguda said Asid Khan of Kabaristanpada area of Jharsuguda district was kept in a quarantine centre since April 26 as he had visited a containment zone at Nala Road of Rourkela town in neighbouring Sundargarh district.
Police have registered a case against Khan under sections 188, 269, 270 and 271 of the IPC at Jharsuguda police station while seeking public help in tracing him out. Jharsuguda has reported two coronavirus cases so far.
The containment zone in minority-dominated Nala Road area of Rourkela, that Khan visited, has reported 7 positive cases of coronavirus so far including the latest case of a 29-year-old woman.
On Monday, an irate mob of the area pelted stones at police personnel and broke barricades around the containment zone causing injuries to four police personnel. Under barricade since April 26, when the first positive case in the area was detected, the residents of Nala Road have refused to cooperate with ASHA workers for health surveillance. The area has over 4,000 households and to assist the local healthcare personnel, additional doctors have been brought from Sambalpur.
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