Bhubaneswar: In the wake of rising Covid-19 cases in other states and a possible second wave of the pandemic, the state government Friday made seven-day home isolation mandatory for travellers from 12 states including Delhi.
Additional Chief Secretary (Health and Family Welfare) PK Mohapatra issued instructions to all collectors, municipal commissioners, East Coast Railway and directors of Biju Patnaik International Airport and Jharsuguda airport in this regard.
Now, people coming from Maharashtra, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, West Bengal, Punjab, Delhi, Chandigarh, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh will have to undergo mandatory home isolation for seven days.
If any person develops symptoms during the isolation period, he/she will have to go for RT-PCR test.
“All passengers coming from the above mentioned states are to be screened at the point of arrival at airports and railway stations as per the protocol. On-site rapid antigen testing of all the symptomatic passengers has to be ensured,” Mohapatra said in his letter.
Wearing of masks and implementation of social distancing measures are to be strictly enforced, he instructed the officials. The district administrations have been asked to increase RTPCR testing rate in all districts and launch awareness campaign on a war-footing.
“Any laxity can result in a resurgence of the pandemic in our state and ruin all our efforts over the past months,” he added.
Meanwhile, Chief Secretary Suresh Mahapatra conducted a meeting with all collectors and SPs through virtual platform and asked them to ensure strict enforcement of Covid-19 safety protocols. He asked them to ensure early identification, isolation, testing and treatment of Covid patients.
PNN