Angul: With Angul district reporting well over 3,200 COVID-19 cases in April alone, the district administration has been in a fix over containment measures.
According to information shared by the district administration, a total of 2,34,228 samples were collected April 29. Of them, 78,866 samples were tested using RT-PCR, 1,54,178 samples using RAT and 1,184 samples using TrueNAT.
While the district reported 310 fresh cases Friday, it reported 392 new cases Saturday, taking its caseload to 14,963. Of them, 12,923 have already recovered from the disease and 2,002 are still undergoing treatment.
With one death the district reported Friday, the toll stands at 38.
If the cases the district had reported in February and March months are put together, it is just 241. Whereas, in April alone, it reported over 3,200 cases which is an indication of the severity of the situation.
The residents of the Angul town have the opinion that the chain of spread can only be broken by being stricter on COVID violators and taking stronger decisions such as imposing lockdowns or shutdowns.
According to locals, there are some people who are awaiting their COVID-19 test reports but are still roaming freely in markets. As it is difficult to identify who are carriers, these people are posing threat to others.
When contacted, District Collector Siddharth Shankar Swain said the chain of infection will break then when the people will become aware of importance of following COVID guidelines. Imposing lockdown and shutdown will have a direct impact on people’s earning of livelihood. So as to avoid that situation, people must have to follow the guidelines strictly.
PNN