After the return of tens of thousands of migrant workers to their villages, coronavirus is rapidly moving into rural areas. A huge number of cases are being reported from the rural belts of Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh , which were until now largely free form covid-19 cases.
Take the case of Uttar Pradesh, a majority of the recent cases are being reported from districts with a large rural population, including Sant Kabir Nagar, Basti, Banda, Bahraich, Barabanki, Hapur, Jalaun, Sidharth Nagar, Ghazipur, Sitapur, Farrukhabad, Hardoi, Jhansi, Bijnor, Sambhal, Pratapgarh, Deoria, Chandauli, Auraiya, Mainpuri, Ballia, Unnao, Khushi Nagar, Sonbhadra and Hathras. Till mid-March, a majority of these districts were free from the coronavirus.
Barabanki, which was coronavirus free till the return of the migrants, has now reported 95 cases, the highest single day surge in any district of the State. Of them, 49 are migrant workers who had returned to the district in the past few days.
According to a data by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, of the 5175 confirmed cases in the State, 1330 cases were reported from these districts. The data says Sant Kabir Nagar has reported (46), Basti (104), Banda (21), Gonda (36), Bahraich (63), Barabanki (79), Hapur (87), Jalaun (41), Siddharth Nagar (51), Ghazipur (49), Sitapur (37), Farrukhabad (20), Hardoi (20), Jhansi (30), Bijnor (58), Sambhal (57) , Pratapgarh (56), Lakhimpur Kheri (40), Deoria (25) Chandauli (15), Auraiya (20), Mainpuri (24), Ballia (13), Unnao (11), Khushi Nagar (7), Sonbhadra (3) and Hathras (20) cases.
In Maharashtra’s Yavatmal district, 13 new cases have been reported from rural areas such as Digras ( 4), Isapur ( 3), Rui Talav (1), Pusad ( 4) and Malkini village in Mahagaon ( 1). All those tested positive are Mumbai returnees.
Resumption of inter-State public transport has heightened concerns that migrants returning to their native places could potentially be carriers of coronavirus. Interestingly, people who are coming back to their State from other parts of the country are facing social boycott in villages.
In last few days, up to 65-70 percent of the positive cases reported in Bihar were in rural and semi-urban areas. Until the first week of May, about 410 of the 1607 cases were reported from rural and suburban areas. Those who had returned from Delhi and other States were found to have the maximum positive cases. As per data, Sitamarhi, Begusarai, Nawada, Siwan, Gopalganj, Munger, Bhgalapur, Aurangabad, Jehanabad, Muzaffarpur, Darbhanga, Madhubani, Saharsa, Supaul, Sheikhpura, Samastipur, Katihar, Madhepura, Araria and Sheohar were coronavirus free till April 25. Now several villages in these districts have become the coronavirus hotspot.
Two villages in Saharsa district have reported two each coranavirus cases. The cases were reported from Nariyar and Kahra village, both falling under Kahra Block in the district.
In Odisha, 51 new coronavirus case were detected from 11 different districts which include 11 cases each from Kalahandi and Nayagarh district, 9 were in Cuttack, 5 in Jajpur, 4 in Ganjam, 3 in Maurybhanj, 2 each in Angul and Jagatsinghpur, one each from Sambalpur, Malkangiri and Puri districts.
In Madhya Pradesh, eight new districts have reported positive cases after May 1, these include Neemuch (50 cases), Morena (49), Jhabua (11) Anuppur (3), Satna (10), Bhind (38), Guna (1), Jhabua (2), Panna (1 )and Sehore (5), Seoni (1), Mandla (1) and Sidhi (5), all predominantly rural districts. In the Neemuch district that borders Rajasthan, the worst of the lot, the first case was reported on May 3.
In Rajasthan, Covid-19 infections have spread to two more rural districts-Jalore and Sirohi in recent days. The highest number of positive cases among migrants has come in from Pali district with 217 positive cases reported. Rajsamand has the second highest number of cases (73), Sirohi with 70, Jalore with 108, Churu with 52 cases.
In Jharkhand, about 75% of positive cases in recent days emerged from rural belts. Six positive cases from Govindpur village area of Gadra Tribal block has worried the administration. The six infected persons at Govindpur are of the same family including husband, wife, daughter, son, daughter-in-law and 3- year-old kid. The girl along with her parents had arrived from Delhi via Rajdhani Express on May 10.
After the local residents protested, the girl and her parents were admitted to MGM hospital on May 14 and sample was collected. After the reports of the three came positive on May 20 they were shifted to TMH Hospital. The other three members of the family were also admitted to TMH and their samples were taken for test.
Late on Wednesday night the other three members of the family including a three- year-old child also tested positive. Govindpur area has been turned into containment and buffer zone which is the first in Jamshedpur and the second in East Singhbhum district after Chakulia, also a tribal belt.
Administration is looking for the persons who came in contact with the family and their samples will be taken. Govindpur area is being sealed and sanitized
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his meeting with Chief Ministers, had also flagged the issue saying “now the effort should be to stop the spread of the Covid-19 to rural areas.”
