With the recent surge in Covid-19 cases, the Odisha government on Friday announced a seven-day mandatory home isolation for returnees from 11 states and the union territory of Chandigarh.
“All the incoming passengers from those 11 states and union territory will remain under mandatory home isolation for 7 days. If during this period they develop any symptoms they will be subjected to a RT-PCR test. If found positive in the RT-PCR test, they will be treated as per Covid-19 treatment protocol. Any laxity can result in a resurgence of the pandemic in our state and ruin all our efforts over the past months,” Additional Chief Secretary (health) PK Mohapatra said.
The 11 states are Maharashtra, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, West Bengal, Punjab, Delhi, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. The union territory is Chandigarh.
In a letter to all Collectors, Municipal Commissioners, Directors of Bhubaneswar and Jharsuguda airport and General Manager (Operations) of East Coast Railways, Mohapatra has also directed the officials to take other precautionary measures at airports and railway stations to prevent the spread.
Mohapatra said all the passengers coming from those states have 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. Wearing of masks and implementation of social distancing measures are to be strictly enforced. RT-PCR testing levels needs to be improved in all districts.
The Union health ministry too has accepted the request of the Odisha government and allowed 183 private hospitals empanelled under the Biju Swastya Kalyan Yojana as vaccination sites for inoculation of elderly people starting March 1.
{{/usCountry}}The Union health ministry too has accepted the request of the Odisha government and allowed 183 private hospitals empanelled under the Biju Swastya Kalyan Yojana as vaccination sites for inoculation of elderly people starting March 1.
{{/usCountry}}The state government has now asked the district collectors, chief district medical officers and public health officers to verify whether the private Covid-19 vaccination centres have sufficient cold chain equipment and capacity, rooms/space for waiting area, vaccination and observation post-vaccination.
The government also asked the districts to verify whether these centres have sufficient number of trained vaccinators and verifiers and the ability to manage the Adverse Events Following Immunization (AEFI) as per the norms and guidelines of the health ministry.