With 50,000 migrant workers returning to Odisha from Gujarat, West Bengal, Kerala, Karanataka and Tamil Nadu over the last few days, the Orissa High Court on Thursday directed the State Government to ensure they are tested for coronavirus before they board the train for Odisha.
Hearing a PIL filed by one Narayan Chandra Jena, an HC bench of justices Sanju Panda and KR Mohapatra said the government should allow the returnees to board trains to Odisha only if they are found negative during real-time Reverse Transcription–Polymerase Chain Reaction (real time RT-PCR) test, one of the most accurate laboratory methods for detecting, tracking, and studying the coronavirus.
The petitioner had also appealed to the HC to direct the state government to provide food and accommodation to the stranded people in their respective states of work instead of bringing them back to Odisha.
Soon after the HC order, Surat district collector Dhaval Patel said Odisha government has cancelled the three Shramik special trains scheduled for departure from Surat on Friday. So far 13 Shramik special trains from Surat carrying Odia migrant workers have reached Odisha, while another six left Surat today.
The HC order came on the day Odisha registered the largest single-day surge with 34 new Covid cases, most of them among migrant workers from Surat. Of the 1,000 samples of Surat returnees, four per cent have tested positive.
{{/usCountry}}The HC order came on the day Odisha registered the largest single-day surge with 34 new Covid cases, most of them among migrant workers from Surat. Of the 1,000 samples of Surat returnees, four per cent have tested positive.
{{/usCountry}}Odisha health minister Naba Das, who had a meeting through video-conferencing with union health minister Dr Harsh Vardhan, said Odisha on Thursday requested for testing of migrants in the States from where they are returning.
“We have requested additional testing kits and relaxation in ICMR guidelines. Instead of pre-screening, pre-tests should be conducted as it will help Odisha government in effective tackling of the Covid-19 situation,” Das said.
As per the SOP issued by the Centre, migrants are being pre-screened before they are boarding special trains to their home states.
Meanwhile, public health expert and the president of Public Health Foundation of India Dr Srinath Reddy today suggested the Odisha government should focus on community protection instead of the development of herd immunity.
Delivering a talk on “Learning from Covid-19 – What we have learnt and how we can win” through video conference at the Gurugram Collectorate in Haryana, Dr Reddy said social distancing seemed to be the only solution in the absence of a vaccine or a treatment.
“Public cooperation and a community’s active participation is the only shield that can protect us from the deadly infection,” said Dr Reddy, advising the Odisha government to look after the elderly persons as they are more vulnerable to the disease.
The HT Guide to Coronavirus COVID-19
“Not only the virus affects the respiratory system, but it also affects the other parts of the human body. In some cases, it causes thrombosis within a blood vessel preventing blood from flowing normally through the circulatory system that leads to death. The virus infects people of all ages irrespective of clinical signs and symptoms,” he said, during the video conference attended by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and 13 of his ministers.