As the devastating Covid-19 wave has begun ravaging rural pockets in Dhenkanal district, tragedy has struck almost wiping out the entire family in the district with many in the villages finding it tough to fight the virus and death.

Misfortune of the worst form has befallen in a household in Mahadia village of Gunadei gram panchayat under Odapada block in Dhenkanal district.

The disease has assumed alarming proportions in the village accounting for 28 positive cases. With several others down with influenza and fever, infection rate is evidently on a higher scale.

While Nirajnan Lenka (50) had succumbed to infection in March, the younger siblings- Sushant and Suresh- died of the disease on 27 and 28 May one after the other. The head of the family- Brundaban Lenka (75) – became the latest victim to the deadly virus on 29 May. Tragedy is threatening to revolve a full cycle as Brundaban’s wife is currently battling for life at the dedicated COVID hospital in Dhenkanal district headquarters town.

The village has been placed under a containment zone as a chain of infections has apparently sneaked into each household in the far-flung human settlement.

The ongoing second wave of COVID-19 is on a monstrous stride in rural parts of the district which on Monday recorded an alarmingly high test positivity rate of 62%. Of the 407 samples tested in the last 24 hours, as many as 407 contracted the infection.

Incidentally, the district clocked TPR of around 37%, the highest in Odisha over the past one week.

While 96 people in Barsinga village of Hindol block tested positive after attending a community feast, the Jaypur Kateni village of Parjang block and Mundideuli village of Kamakhyanagar block came under the scourge of the contagion. As many as 143 people have tested positive in both the sparsely populated villages.

The villages in Parajanga, Kankadahad and Bhuban blocks are badly hit with spurt in symptomatic, asymptomatic COVID suspected cases. With daily testing left much to be desired due to rapid antigen kit shortage, it is apprehended that the infection might explode once the test is ramped up.

“We have placed the Bhuban notified area council town and peripheral villages under containment zone after 75 fresh cases were reported today. The door-to-door health screening has been stepped up. The spurt in positive cases has been mainly due to COVID-19 protocol violation. The violators will be sternly dealt”, said Pravash Kumar Beuria, Tehsildar of Bhuban.

From the ground level feedback received from panchayat representatives, it has been found that community feasts and outsiders’ participation in wedding functions turned into super-spreading events, he added.