Odisha govt to share info on COVID-19 containment steps, test results with people in hotspots

Bhubaneswar, Apr 15 () A day after seniorbureaucrats were appointed to contain COVID-19 in six hotspotshere, the Odisha government on Thursday decided to share"vital information" with the residents, including test resultsof suspected cases and steps being taken to tackle the crisis.

Of the 60 COVID-19 cases in Odisha so far, 46 havebeen reported from the state capital.

Chief Secretary A K Tripathy, in an order, askedofficials to employ loudspeakers, and create area-wiseWhatsApp groups to disseminate information and communicatewith local people in the six containment zones -- Surya Nagar,Bomikhal, Satya Nagar, Sunarpada and Kapila Prasad.

Tripathy also asked them to contact cable channels forcarrying out awareness drive in the clusters.

"The decision to disseminate information in thecontainment zones was taken after we found out that peoplewere in the dark over all that is happening around them. Also,loudspeakers should be used to update information aboutavailability of essential items," the chief secretary said.

All containment zones have been barricaded,prohibiting entry and exit of persons, he said.

Once the area is sealed, teams of Andanwadi workers,auxiliary nurse midwives and other health workers, under theguidance of community medicine and epidemiology experts, willmove from one house to another to check on people.

Samples of those found exhibiting flu-like symptomswill be collected at random and sent for examination to ruleout chances of local transmission, he said.

Maintaining that supply of essential commodities andmedicines to doorsteps remains one of the biggest challengesfaced by the officials in the containment zones, the chiefsecretary asked the municipal commissioner to take possiblesteps to ensure people were not inconvenienced.

"People with disabilities, those living alone,pregnant women and aged persons should be given priority inthese clusters," he asserted.

If no new case is detected after conducting at leasttwo rounds of survey, the municipal commissioner or collectormight ease restrictions in these areas in consultation withstate health department, Tripathy added.

Meanwhile, the Sundargarh district administration onThursday earmarked Bisra town as a containment zone andenforced necessary restrictions there for 48 hours till11.30 am on April 18, officials said.

Several other districts in the state, including Puri,Ganjam, Jajpur and Kendrapara, have also identifiedcontainment zones and sealed them, in accordance with thegovernment directive, they added. AAMRMS RMS