Even as Covid infections are rapidly rising in Rayagada district, Collector Pramod Kumar Behera said that as many as 74 persons in a village of this district tested positive for coronavirus Friday. Locals were panicked over possible community spread while the administration has started contact tracing in the area.
A couple and their son had earlier tested positive for Covid and were said to be a super spread of the virus in the area. 13 people who had come in contact with them had tested positive.
The district reported 76 total COVID-19 positive cases Friday. Of them, 74 were reported from Bijaypur village of Shirijholi panchayat under Gunpur block.
Of the remaining two, one is a youth from Rayagada urban area. After returning from New Delhi he had been staying in a quarantine centre. The other one is a 35-year-old male from Gunpur urban area. While he does not have any travel history, the district health department has started preparing a list of the persons he had come in contact with.
Of the 74 COVID-19 fresh patients, 45 are females and the rest males. There are nine such patients who are above 60 years of age. Similarly, they include four patients who are aged below ten years.
Earlier, 13 positive cases were detected from the same village. They had contracted the virus from a family comprising husband, wife and a daughter that had returned from Andhra Pradesh.
20 of them were sent to JK Pur Covid Hopsital while 56 others were admitted to Gunupur Covid centre.
With the fresh detection, the district’s tally has gone up to 115. While a total of 17 patients recovered from the disease till Thursday, as many as 98 patients are undergoing treatment at COVID-19 hospitals.
After Friday’s spike, fear gripped people of those villages abutting Bijaypur village.