COVID-19 positive migrants adding fresh cases in states

New Delhi: The movement of migrant workers from one state to another in an 'unplanned' way is adding to the number of fresh cases in the different states.

Keeping in view of migrant workers' influx in rural areas, the Centre has asked all the states to revamp their healthcare services at the rural level.

The states that have reported a huge jump in COVID-19 cases include, Bihar, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Assam, Kerala, etc. In the case of Bihar, as per a senior official, out of total 3,200 COVID-19 cases, 69 per cent who have tested positive are migrant workers.

"As of now, migrants constitute 2,200 positive cases in Bihar and most of them are those who have returned from Maharashtra, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, etc," the official said.

In Bihar, the new cases have been reported from the districts of the Rohtas (201), Madhubani (176), Begusarai (161), Khagaria (148), Munger (148), Katihar (134), Buxar (114), Banka (106), Bhagalpur (101), Siwan (72), Gaya (65), etc. Of the total 60 cases, according to Gaya DPM, the district has 40 migrants as COVID-19 positive.

Similarly, migrant workers constitute about 40 per cent of the total cases in the eastern Uttar Pradesh, an abode of migrant workers in the state, as above 1,500 migrants, who returned to Uttar Pradesh from other states, have tested COVID-19 positive.

In West Bengal, the COVID-19 cases have increased in the state's rural areas after more than 400 migrant workers tested positive for Coronavirus. The cases have been reported from the districts of Malda, Murshidabad, Birbhum, Hooghly, Howrah, etc. In Rajasthan, 2,045 migrants have tested positive since May 1 and of the total new cases, 60 per cent are migrants.

In Kerala, almost 85 per cent out of the 445 active COVID-19 patients are those who have returned from other states. Similar is the case in Karnataka as persons who have come from other states have tested COVID-19 positive. Also, in Nagaland, migrants who had returned to the state from Chennai, have been found COVID-19 positive.

As per the experts, the delay in the movement of workers have exposed them with the virus that infected most of them as they live in groups in small "enclosures."