Bhilai: Community spread of the novel coronavirus has been reported in Chhattisgarh's Durg district after 785 people tested positive for the disease.
Durg has reported 707 fatalities and the active caseload in the district stands at 6,679 turning it into a COVID-19 hotspot. Daur village in Durg has reported 170 fresh COVID-19 cases.
The district administration has expressed apprehensions over the rapid surge in the COVID-19 cases and has enforced strict containment measures to stop the spread of the disease. With the novel coronavirus spreading its tentacles in the district, the administration has put restrictions on inter-district movement and is trying the track the source of the infection.
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Till date, the state health department has tested samples of 3,000 people and the total number of patients who recovered is 28,624 and 19,726 patients are in mandatory isolation.
Reports suggest that the virus started spreading public gatherings like jhakis and meals.
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In view of the surge, the Chief Medical Officer Dr Gambhir Singh Thakur has issued a list of people who have travelled to the village in the last few days to put them in mandatory quarantine. The government has also imposed Section 144 of the CrPc and has warned people of imprisonment if they flouted Covid rules.
Talking to ETV Bharat, Thakur said, "Seeing the rapid surge in the fresh COVID-19 cases, we have decided to re-open COVID centres. The district is witnessing a rapid surge in novel coronavirus cases but the mortality rate is low. The health infrastructure of the district is already overloaded, he said."
The officer also said that the state government has enough stock of medicines and every day 2,000 to 3,000 packets of medicines are being manufactured. A team of 50 people are continuously monitoring the situation and have directed the concerned officers to step up the vigil.