COVID-19: 22 migrants escape from quarantine centre in Chhattisgarh

At least 22 migrant labourers, who had returned from Andhra Pradesh, escaped from a COVID-19 quarantine centre in Chhattisgarh's Dantewada district, police said on Friday.

The labourers escaped from a quarantine facility in Dantewada late on Thursday evening and a search was launched to trace them, Dantewada Superintendent of Police Abhishek Pallava said.

As many as 47 migrant labourers, who had travelled to their home districts from the neighbouring state, were quarantined at a facility in Aranpur police station area, he said.

Of these, 22 labourers, who hail from Nahadi village, fled from the centre, he added.

"They were examined for primary coronavirus symptoms on Thursday and all of them were found to be asymptomatic," Pallava said.

The district administration has informed the sarpanch and secretary of the concerned village panchayat, Pallava said, adding that the police have launched a manhunt to track them down.

So far, no case of COVID-19 has been reported from the Bastar division, which comprises Bastar, Kanker, Sukma Kondagaon, Narayanpur, Dantewada and Bijapur districts.

Chhattisgarh has so far reported 59 COVID-19 cases, of which 38 patients recovered from the infection, while 21 are undergoing treatment at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Raipur.