Nuapada: The battle against coronavirus has gone haywire in this district as migrant returnees were seen erecting shanties outside their village to live in home quarantine in the most unhygienic condition amid the fear of rain, reptile and animals, a report said.
The rules direct the migrant workers to live in home quarantine after completion of seven days quarantine under government supervision. However, authorities at the quarantine centres known as temporary medical camps (TMC) are discharging the migrants for home quarantine without conducting their swab test for which many of them are reportedly testing positive for Covid-19 at a later stage.
Earlier, the returnees were put up in 14-days quarantine in temporary medical camps (TMC) in the district. Later, the state government reduced the quarantine period to seven days and subsequently to three days as more and more returnees arrived in the state. The returnee after their discharge had to stay in 18 days home quarantine.
A migrant worker Radhakant Sagaria, 19, son of Pramila and Chudamani Sagaria at Kharikapada village in Bhela panchayat under Komna block in this district is a case in this point. This is not an isolated case but many returnees are reportedly being discharged for home quarantine without conducting their swab test.
The kin and villagers of the returnees apprehend that the discharged person might be carrying the virus and will help in spreading the disease are not allowing them to enter village.
As a result, the discharged migrants find themselves at crossroad while their family members and villagers had to spend their time in trepidation. Left with no option they are forced to erect a shanty outside the village and live inside it to spend their home quarantine.
Reports said that Radhakant returned from Mumbai May 25 when police and administrative officials detained him on the route and admitted him at Sahajat quarantine centre in Jatagarh panchayat. He was discharged after completion of seven days in quarantine.
He fervently pleaded with the authorities not to discharge him from the centre without conducting his swab test. However, the centre authorities refused to listen and asked him to leave the centre and remain in home quarantine. Clueless, he set off for his village and erected a shanty on a pond embankment at Krishna Chhack on village outskirts for home quarantine.
Radhakant said most of the labourers coming from Mumbai have tested positive for the virus. He fears to go home as about eight to 10 family members live in a hut for which the chances of infections are quite high. He will never let that happen for which he has erected a shanty to remain in home quarantine. His elderly parents bring him food and water daily and serve it to him from a safe distance as part of social distancing measures.
When contacted, Rikhiram Dandsena, sarpanch of Bhela panchayat said that he will meet the migrant returnee Radhakant and enquire from him about his problem. Moreover, he will ensure that his swab samples are collected at earliest for test.
PNN