Gargi Verma

Seven people with foreign travel history have tested positive so far in the state.

The group is now stuck on the Odisha-Chhattisgarh border, about 50 km from their village. After walking and hitching rides for over a 1,000 km, their patience is drawing thin.

According to sources, two of the patients are over 60 years of age. While contact tracing and surveillance in the state has increased, health officials are facing difficulties in getting COVID-19 testing kits from the National Institute of Virology in Pune due to lockdown.

A 24-year-old man who had returned from Thailand in Rajnandgaon, and another 24-year-old woman who had returned from UK in Raipur were tested positive on Wednesday, health officials said.

In Kolkata, a 30-year old woman, who is part of the National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases (NICED) team which tests samples for coronavirus, was told by her landlord in South Kolkata to leave the place.

The bodies of the 17 security personnel, including 5 from Special Task Force (STF) and 12 from District Reserve Group (DRG), were recovered by a back-up force sent on Sunday. A Platoon commander and an assistant platoon commander of the STF were also among the dead.

The government has ordered suspension of public and private buses, auto and e-rickshaws and taxis with immediate effect.

Chhattisgarh DGP Durgesh Awasthi said: “We have recovered all 17 bodies. All of them are from Chhattisgarh. Our men came under very heavy fire for over five hours, and they fought valiantly.”

More than 250 men from PLGA 1 controlled by the senior Maoist leader Hidma and Company 2 ambushed the men while they were returning at around 02.30 pm on Saturday, sources said.

According to senior IPS officers, as many as 250 personnel are still inside the jungle near the areas where encounter took place.

Police on Thursday closed roads within a 3-km radius of Samta Colony, Choubey Colony and Gudhiyar after a local resident tested positive for COVID-19.

The state has opened a hotline through which residents of the area can ask for milk, ration and medicines.

The woman had apparently traveled from London to Indore and then to Raipur on March 15. She had not been screened at the airport but had reported to AIIMS to get a routine check-up when her sample was collected, sources said.

The BRC of Narharpur in Kanker district, Himan Korram had allegedly forwarded a message on social media regarding a person dying due to coronavirus in the state

Villagers from across the Bailadila hills trekked for more than two days to attend the event, organised by the Bandi Rihai committee and Sarwa Adiwasi Samaaj, to commemorate the day and to remember the girl, who allegedly committed suicide in December 2018.

The state government has asked NCL about the iron ore deposit number 13, for which the gram sabha was held. Deposit number 13 was handed over to Adani Enterprises in 2018 and was the first iron ore mine acquired by Adani as Mine Developer and Operator.

Baldev Sharma is currently serving at the central university in Himachal Pradesh.

More than a 100 personnel in riot gear were deployed at the spot Monday morning and police approached the protesters in the evening.

The ongoing searches have unsettled the state bureaucracy and increased tensions between the ruling Congress and the Opposition BJP, each accusing the other of corruption and vengeful politics.