Covid scare in MP after entire Tribal village in Balaghat reports fever

Bhopal: A tribal village in Madhya Pradesh’s Balaghat district set alarm bells ringing in the state administration when a large number of residents suddenly took ill. Fearing coronavirus outbreak, the state government on Monday rushed a team of doctors to Harri Bhata village, under Baihar tehsil, to conduct rapid tests of some villagers to find out if any of them have Covid-19.

“We have done rapid tests of 31 people in the village. But all the cases have been found asymptomatic. We are keeping a close watch on the situation,” Balaghat district chief medical health officer (CMHO) Manoj Pandey told this newspaper.

The village has a population of around 170 people and about 70 guest workers belonging to the village returned to their homes from different states in May this year.

The district has reported a total of seven coronavirus positive cases. “We are concerned because it would be a challenging task for us to handle the situation if the pandemic spreads to the area,” a senior district officer said.

Tribals are particularly vulnerable to community transmission because of their culture of community living.