Bhubaneswar: A day after the detection of the fourth COVID-19 patient in the state, who returned from Dubai and did not show symptoms of the disease, the Odisha government Wednesday urged people ‘with travel history but no symptoms’ to strictly observe the 14-day home quarantine norms.
As a precautionary measure, people, who had retuned from abroad or other states in the country, were advised to monitor their health conditions for another two weeks after following the 14-day home quarantine procedure, a senior health department official said.
“The fourth COVID patient did not have any symptom. Hence people with travel history but no symptoms should not be complacent. They must follow home quarantine for two weeks and then self monitor their health condition for another two weeks,” state health and family welfare department said in its Twitter handle.
A 29-year-old man from Bhadrak district, with a travel history to Dubai, tested positive for coronavirus Tuesday.
“What is significant is that the man had no symptom of coronavirus infection,” the official said, adding that people coming from outside the state “should not adopt any casual approach”.
The three earlier cases were reported from Bhubaneswar. Of them, two had returned from abroad while the third had recently visited Delhi and Haryana.
Of the three, two are undergoing treatment in the government-run Capital Hospital and one in the AIIMS, Bhubaneswar.
Odisha’s health and family welfare secretary NB Dhal has asked the Bhadrak district collector to take the fourth patient to SCB Medical College Hospital in Cuttack.
The immediate steps have already been taken by putting the family members of the man in isolation centre and conducting the required tests, the official said.
The efforts are also on to trace all those who had come in contact with the fourth patient, he said, adding that the mission director of the National Health Mission is monitoring the follow-up action.
The government has been focusing on detecting cases to contain the spread of the coronavirus, he said.
The state government has already expressed its concern over violation of the lockdown order and the quarantine norms set for the foreign returnees, the official said.
“More than 2,800 persons, who had recently returned to the state from abroad, skipped the mandatory registration, and necessary steps have been taken to identify them, he said.
These people had neither registered themselves on the official portal, nor contacted the helpline phone number, he said.
Around 80,000 people have also come from other states recently, and it is essential for them to observe the 14-day home quarantine, the official said.
According to state governments chief spokesman on COVID-19 Subroto Bagchi, altogether 11,575 people have registered themselves on the online portal while another 104 listed their names through the health helpline number till Tuesday.
Of them, 4,304 had come from abroad, Bagchi said. Though the number of COVID-19 patients detected in Odisha so far remains low as compared to the figures in other states, people should not be complacent, the official said.
The government urged people to observe the ongoing nationwide lockdown, he added.
(PTI)