Dhenkanal: Amid rising Omicron cases in the state, the health and administration officials in Dhenkanal district are worried over sudden missing of 10 of the returnees from abroad.
Reports said, with a steady increase in the number of Omicron cases in the state, the district administration has taken up various preventive measures in the form of restrictions and fresh guidelines.
It was learnt that a total of 134 people in the district who worked abroad have returned to the district. Till Thursday, 29 returnees were from Omicron-hit red zone countries while 105 were from Covid-hit green zone countries.
Meanwhile, the health department has traced 124 foreign returnees, but has failed to get details about 10 others. The administration has conducted RT-PCR tests and Omicron tests on 28 returnees from the red zone and 44 from the green zone countries.
Test reports of 66 have come out negative while testing of others is still on. Health officials are worried that 10 people who have since been untraceable might have come in contact with their family members, relatives and other people and infected them.
According to health officials, if anyone of them is infected with Omicron it will trigger transmission in their respective areas. The state government has sent a list of foreign returnees to the district health department, said CDMO Dr Ashok Kumar Das.
But the health department is completely clueless about the contact numbers, addresses and travel details of the unidentified returnees.
“We have asked officials of all health centres, ASHAs and health workers in the district to identify the untraceable returnees. If these people had given wrong phone numbers and addresses, it will be difficult to locate them. 72 returnees have undergone tests while reports of 66 have come out negative,” the CDMO said.
PNN