Raipur: The 14 fresh Covid-19 cases in Chhattisgarh — all returning migrant workers — have the government worried as it now expects a spike in the number of cases after over one lakh migrant labourers start coming back to the state.
The fresh cases were reported on 3 May. All the 14 migrant workers returned from the red zones of Maharashtra, West Bengal and Hyderabad, according to Chhattisgarh health department officials.
They were sent to a quarantine centre on their return, a senior state health department official told ThePrint.
“Of the 14 new positive cases, 8 are from Durg and 6 from Kabirdham district. They started from their workplaces between 15-20 April. Their quarantine period was over on 2 May and test results came the next day,” said Akshilesh Tripathi, deputy director of the state health department.
“Stranded migrant workers who are either already on the way or expected to come in a few days on trains being provided by the state government are bound to throw a big challenge to us in the coming days,” added Tripathi, who is also the nodal officer of the State Control and Command Centre of Covid-19 data.
The officer said they expect Covid-19 cases to rise considerably as over one lakh stranded migrant workers from across the country will return to the state soon at a time when the infection in several parts of the country is taking “explosive proportion”.
Asked about the challenges rising with the return of the migrants, Chhattisgarh Health Minister T.S. Singh Deo said they’re ready to deal with it.
“The state government and health department are equipped to face and tackle the situation,” Deo told ThePrint.
A health department official said more than 1.34 lakh migrant workers have already returned to the state and around 1.13 lakh will return soon via trains.
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‘Will continue to resist inflow of Covid infection’
The official mentioned above said they’re expecting around 40 per cent of those coming from Delhi and Maharashtra, which have the highest Covid-19 cases in the country, to be positive.
Chhattisgarh was doing relatively well in managing the Covid-19 crisis.
As of Thursday afternoon, Chhattisgarh has 23 active cases — all patients undergoing treatment at AIIMS, Raipur. So far, there have been 59 confirmed cases. Of these, 36 patients have been cured and sent back home, according to the state government’s data.
“It will be naive on my part if I say there won’t be a rise in Covid-19 positive cases once the new lot of the migrant workers starts arriving in the state. We are expecting the figure to reach a much higher level,” state Health Secretary Niharika Barik Singh told ThePrint.
“We have so far been able to resist the inflow of Covid infection to a considerable extent and will continue to do so now as well. That is precisely the reason why we have asked the state rural development department to set up quarantine centres in every village panchayat. Migrant workers returning to the state in the coming days will have to undergo quarantine for the stipulated period before going to their villages,” she added.
Poor lockdown implementation in other states
State officials said that poor implementation of the lockdown and inadequate vigilance in other states are going to cost Chhattisgarh.
“It appears that other states lacked seriousness in terms of adhering to the lockdown norms. Workers returning to their homes were allowed to pass freely by the police and the state governments,” said Singh.
She further said had other state governments prevented the movement of migrant workers, Chhattisgarh would have been able to keep the Covid-19 figures low.
Tripathi, however, said that migrant workers took the shortcuts to reach their home states and escaped police vigilance, adding to the cause of worry.
Govt working to bring back migrants
Meanwhile, the state government is preparing to bring back the 1.13 lakh migrant workers.
In a letter written Tuesday to the Raipur divisional railway manager, state transport secretary Kamalpreet has asked him to explore what facilities could be provided by the railways to bring back the migrants.
The letter has also earmarked eight railway stations in the state where migrant workers will be dropped and then ferried to their respective villages via buses.
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