SUBHASH MISHRA
Dhanbad, Dec 27: A sudden burst of Covid-19 cases in the district has robbed the sleep of Dhanbad’s District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA). As per official records, the district has registered 40 active cases in which 27 infected people have surfaced in three days including eight in the last 24 hours.
A senior official of the district health department said that a total of 2,425 samples were collected of which six were found infected in the last 24 hours (till Sunday late evening). However, seven infected persons were discharged from the hospital and sent on 14 days home quarantine.
Since three picnickers surfaced at Maithon Dam of DVC while celebrating Christmas, the district administration has imposed strict safety guidelines of all picnic spots Maithon, Panchet, Topchanchi and Bhatinda Fall of the district in wake of the New Year celebration. Picnickers in large numbers come from other states especially from neighbouring states Bengal, Bihar and Odisha at Maithon and Panchet dams.
“Testing of Dhanbad visitors at border entry points, railway station, inter-state bus stand, OPD patients of sadar hospital, Shahid Nirmal Mahto Medical College Hospital (SNMMCH), Tata Steel Jamadoba Hospital, Divisional Railway Hospital and Central Hospital of Bharat Coking Coal limited (BCCL) has been intensified. Even RT-PCR testing at all block headquarters is being done to find the infected persons,” said Dr Rajkumar Singh, Integrated Diseases Surveillance Programme (IDSP) officer.
He also said that the DDMA is well geared up to meet the challenges of the possible third wave. For the time being, positive patients are being admitted at Cath Lab (special ward) of SNMMCH but beds in other hospitals of the district are kept in reserve.
