Boudh: The Boudh district administration imposed prohibitory orders under Section 144 in Narayanagar village under Laxmiprasad panchayat after detection of a record number of COVID-19 cases in the village on Saturday.

The Section 144 was declared in Narayanagar village for an indefinite period when 115 more villagers tested positive for the deadly virus in last 24 hours. With this, the total number of positive cases in the village stands at 159.

An official said a team of Health Department has been camping at the village to carry out swab antigen tests. So far, a total of 420 villagers underwent the tests. Those who are asymptomatic have been asked to remain in home quarantine and be in touch with Health personnel, the official added.

Also, the Health department stationed an ambulance to ferry COVID-19 patients to the specialized COVID hospital in case their condition deteriorated.

Arrangements have been made to provide essential items to the villagers, local sarpanch Shree Meher said.

Two weeks back, a couple from Patabhadi village of Sonepur district attended purification rituals of a villager in Narayanagar and stayed there for five days. When the couple returned home, the husband-wife duo tested positive for COVID-19. During contact tracing, the administration carried out antigen test in Narayanagar village and detected another 115 COVID-19 cases today.

Earlier, 54 persons in the village tested positive for the virus.