Wayanad reports third COVID-19 case in tribal settlement

The patient had returned from Virajpet in Karnataka’s Coorg where she was working in the plantations.
Wayanad reports third COVID-19 case in tribal settlement
Wayanad reports third COVID-19 case in tribal settlement
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Containment measures were tightened in Wayanad’s Thirunelli panchayat after a 40-year-old woman from a tribal colony tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

The patient, her husband and three others had returned from Karnataka’s Virajpet Ina Coorg district, where they were working in the plantations. Several people from Wayanad’s tribal colonies seek employment in Karnataka’s coffee and ginger plantations spread out across Coorg (Virajpet) and Mysuru.

On June 23, the group returned in a lorry to Wayanad. However, instead of reporting to health officials, they allegedly took a shortcut through a forest route once they reached the Baveli check post and reached their house in Michabhoomi colony located at Aranappara in Thirunelli.

The following day, the group was shifted to a quarantine facility in Muthanga and their swab tests were taken. On Monday, June 29, the test results returned and the 40-year-old woman turned out to be positive.

“She has now been shifted to the dedicated COVID-19 hospital in Mananthavady and is being monitored there. The rest of the group have also not been allowed to return to the colony, but are placed under quarantine,” Wayanad District Medical Office Dr R Renuka told TNM.


As of Monday, the Wayanad district administration has now turned wards 4,5,9,10 and 12 of Thirunelli panchayat into containment zones and has also shut down the Tribal Extension office in the area as the tribal promoter of the office had visited the ward to get the five members shifted into quarantine.

This is the third case of COVID-19 reported in a tribal settlement in Wayanad.

“Earlier there were two cases reported from tribal hamlets. These patients were quarantined and have now recovered from the virus. Much like this current patient, they too had returned from Karnataka where they were employed as plantation workers,” Wayanad DMO told TNM.

A total of 99 persons have tested positive for coronavirus in Wayanad.

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