Rajendra Prasad Mohapatra

Cuttack: As many as 14 more Kumbh Mela returnees to Odisha including a servitor of Puri Jagannath Temple tested positive for Covid-19 on Wednesday.

13 returnees who deboarded train at Cuttack Railway Station tested positive for the virus after RT-PCR test by Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) authorities.

Similarly, Shree Jagannath Temple Administration Chief Krishan Kumar informed that a sevayat who had gone to Uttarakhand to attend the festival has also been found Corona positive. A total of 32 samples were put to test out of which, one showed positive result, informed SJTA Chief Administrator.

Till now the total number of persons infected with the Coronavirus after their return from Haridwar rose to 27 in Cuttack.

Yesterday morning, 13 Kumbh Mela returnees had tested positive for the virus in the Millenium City.

Odisha government had earlier mentioned that around 400 people of as many as 150 families from Odisha attended Kumbh Mela at Haridwar this year out of which nine families alone were from Cuttack.

As per the registration list available with Uttarakhand government, maximum 25 families from Ganjam, 20 from Nabarangpur  and Puri, 10 families from Khordha and nine from Cuttack district took part in the festival.

Amid worsening of pandemic situation in the country, the Niranjani Akhada announced to curtail the Kumbh Mela and it ended on April 17, almost two weeks before the schedule on April 30.

(Edited by Suryakant Jena)

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