One in three tests Covid-19 positive in Chhattisgarh village: Report

Health officials are stumped by how the virus reached the remote village

A serious outbreak of Covid-19 has reportedly infected almost one in every three residents of a village in Chhattisgarh’s Naxal-dominated Sukma district, puzzling officials as to how the virus reached the remote pocket of the state.

Karma Gondi has had 91 positive Covid-19 cases in the past week out of the 239 tested by a medical team, The Indian Express reported, with all positive cases removed to a Covid Care Centre at the district headquarters and the village sealed off as a containment zone.

Sukma has logged 5,755 Covid-19 cases and 15 deaths in total but it has the lowest active cases in the state, numbering only 155, but the spread of the virus to smaller faraway corners like Karma Gondi that have little access to health facilities is a worrying trend for officials.

A Covid-19 team from Chhindgarh arrived in the village two weeks ago after a pregnant woman was diagnosed with the virus and was alerted about a possible spread in Karma Gondi. Neharu Markam, who was part of the team, told the publication that 41 people had tested positive the first day. “All of them had fever. We conducted door-to-door surveillance, and tested those with symptoms first.”

Sukma’s District Collector Vineet Nandanwar, however, told the publication the focus was on early detection, stringent monitoring, and breaking the chain. “We have made clusters of small villages and appointed nodal heads. We are prepared for over 2,000 cases at a time, even though our active cases have never crossed 500.”

A number of theories for the origin of the outbreak have surfaced, including returnees from Andhra Pradesh and gatherings to collect tendu leaves, but no exact reason has been pinpointed so far.

While caseload and positivity rates in urban centres have shown signs of descent in recent times, the virus’ spread inside rural and tribal areas has kept health officials on their guard, with the Indian Council of Medical Research issuing stricter guidelines for Covid-19 management in these regions two weeks ago.

In Sukma, medical infrastructure is not the only challenge, as officials must also find ways of bridging the trust gap between locals and the government machinery. Nandanwar told the daily that villagers had recently picked up bows and arrows in an attempt to attack the health team, accusing them of “intentionally” testing them positive.