COVID-19 Patient Has No Travel History: Dhenkanal Collector

Dhenkanal: The 51-year-old woman, who tested positive for the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in Dhenkanal on Thursday, has no travel history, the administration said.

Briefing the media, Dhenkanal Collector Bhumesh Chandra Behera said that 10 missionaries (five male and five female) had stayed at the woman’s house in the town on March 10.

After staying for a week, they boarded a train for Kolkata via Angul and Sambalpur on March 17.

After coming to know about the incident, the district administration traced the 10 missionaries in Kolkata. They along with the woman and four other members of two families were then kept in government quarantine centre on April 3, the collector said.

“During the quarantine period, the blood and swab samples of all 15 persons were sent for tests. The reports received today revealed that only the woman had contracted COVID-19,” he said.

The woman will be shifted to Ashwini Hospital in Cuttack. The remaining 14 persons will be kept in quarantine for another 14 days and their blood and swab samples will be sent for tests again, he said.

The collector further said that, 15 other members of the two families, including five males, five females and five children (below 10 years), who had come in contact with the missionaries have been kept at a quarantine centre for 14 days and their samples will also be sent for tests.

Asked about the follow-up measures, Behera said that steps are being taken to sanitize the house of the infected woman and the area of the town.