The novel coronavirus has reached four villages in Angara, a block about 20km from the capital in Ranchi district, with major tourist destinations like Hundru, Jonha and Sita falls, and the Getalsud Dam.

Four women, including a 25-year-old unmarried woman, two pregnant women and a new mum, who delivered a baby on Thursday morning at the block community health centre, tested positive on Thursday evening.

Angara block development officer Uttam Prasad expressed his concern over the detection of four cases in a single day from four different villages situated in the block.

“The four villages from where the cases have been detected included Childag, Lalgarh, Rajadera and Bahira Toli. These are isolated villages, not clustered together. For instance, the distance between Childag and Lalgarh is at least 2km. The other two villages must at least 15km from these two villages, and they are all in different directions. We are at a loss to understand how the virus reached all four villages. Except the one unmarried woman hailing from Odisha who reached one of the four villages on May 11, none of the others has any travel history,” Prasad said.

A locality resident said the 25-year-old woman from Odisha, who works in a private firm in Bihar, came to the village with a friend. “Another woman’s husband worked in a hotel in Ranchi till the start of the lockdown, but that’s also a pretty long time ago, and we don’t know how she could have got infected. On the other two women, there is no clue.”

BDO Prasad said four containment zones had been created and residents asked to remain in home quarantine. “Samples of all 50 medical and paramedical staffs of the community health centre where the Covid-19 positive lady delivered a baby on Thursday have been taken for tests,” he said. “Childag has 100 households, other villages are small with number of homes ranging between 30 and 40.”

Covid cases

Hazaribagh: Eleven new novel coronavirus cases surfaced in Hazaribagh between Thursday and Friday, including two pregnant women who underwent C-section to deliver healthy babies on May 11 at a private hospital in the town, and migrant workers who returned from Mumbai and Calcutta. So far, Hazaribagh has had 20 infections, of which three persons have recovered. Right now, there are 18 active cases in the district.

Civil surgeon Dr Krishna Kumar confirmed that report of the two new mothers came positive on Friday.

Suspect death

Chatra: A 40-year-old man who returned from Mumbai on Monday, and was in a government quarantine centre on Friday, died on way to Hazaribagh Medical College and Hospital after complaining of chest pain and unease. His Covid status was not confirmed. His relatives charged the district administration of not taking proper care of him. BDO Santosh Kumar reached Yogendra’s home to console his family and promise government welfare benefits.

Additional reporting by Vishvendu Jaipuriar