Kailali, August 31
As many as 18 residents of a neighbourhood in Ghodaghodi municipality-10 of Kailali tested positive for coronavirus on August 24. However, no one has reached the place to trace their contracts yet.
The government protocol requires local officials to trace contacts of the infected persons within 48 hours of the confirmation of infection. However, the health section of the municipality did not bother to do so.
The ward office sealed off the ward from August 25 to 30. “We had asked the municipality for contact tracing while the ward remained sealed off,” ward member Ram Prasad Bhandari says, “But, the health section said nothing will happen once 14 days will be over.” Yesterday (August 30) marked the 14th day of the locals’ swab collection for testing.
The section’s chief Kailash Rawat says, “We do not have sufficient VTMs, therefore we cannot do it.”
Despite the health section’s claim, locals look terrified. A local, Krishna Mishra says, “The risk of community transmission increased as the contacts were not traced.”
The municipality has 89 Covid-19 cases so far.Covid
