Balasore: Love is blind, alas; at times it drags people to go to unthinkable extremes even to the extent of risking their own life and others' as well. The saying could not be truer than in case of this youth from Sunadharabasana GP in Bhogarai block of Balasore district.
The 27-year-old youth had reportedly returned from Bengaluru a few days before enforcement of the nationwide lockdown in the wake of COVID-19 outbreak.
Sources said he was in a relationship with a girl of Contai area in West Bengal and their marriage was fixed on April 17. The youth along with some of his friends and family members went to WB on April 17 to marry the love of his life at a time when lockdown restrictions were still in place.
After completing the wedlock, he returned to his home with his wife and sister-in-law. Despite his return from a Covid hit State - WB - which is held responsible for the massive spike in Coronavirus cases in Odisha in the initial phase of lockdown, the local administration had no information on the youth and his travel history.
The romantic adventure of the youth, however, was short-lived as he was detected positive for SARS-nCoV three weeks after his wedding. Acting on inputs from a local Aanganwadi worker, when the authorities collected swab samples from the youth, his wife and sister-in-law for Covid-19 testing, he was tested Coronavirus positive but was asymptomatic. Luckily, the other two were tested negative for the contagious disease.
Meanwhile, the detection of Covid infection in the youth has spread like a wildfire triggering panic of super spreading Covid-19 among locals in Bhogarai. Sources claimed that the youth might have come in contact with over 100 people of the locality, including his friends and acquaintances while throwing marriage party.
As per latest development, the local administration has collected swab samples from a total of 130 people including the family members of the youth. Since he had met many people in several villages of Bhogarai, the Sarpanchs of two panchayats in the block have imposed a 72-hour shutdown in their respective jurisdictions. Similarly, the village head of Kanthibhaunri GP has also announced shutdown in the area to facilitate aggressive contact tracing and testing of people.