Vikash Sharma

Bhubaneswar: To ensure that there is no spread of COVID-19 infection in the State, Odisha has issued additional guidelines for effective management of temporary medical camps (TMC) and quarantine centres across the State.

As per the guidelines, symptomatic cases will be isolated from the rest of the inhabitants after screening and shifted to COVID Care Centres (CCC).

In a letter to all district Collectors, Municipal Commissioners, and executive officers of Urban Local Bodies (ULBs), additional chief secretary Pradipta Mohapatra has directed officials to convert un-occupied quarantine centres into COVID Care Centres.

COVID-19 test of all vulnerable groups, including 'pregnant women, children under the age of five, physically and mentally challenged persons, transgenders and persons above 60 years and co-morbid conditions (diabetes, asthma, kidney disease or hypertension)' will be conducted on a priority basis.

Odisha government has also issued strict instructions to keep Temporary Medical Camps under CCTV surveillance and to focus on maintaining social distance.

As Odisha is now witnessing a sudden rise in COVID-19 cases due to return of migrants from various hotspots in the country like Maharashtra and Gujarat (Surat) to the State, the only respite is the fact that all the COVID-19 cases are isolated ones and reported from quarantine centres, said Health and Family Welfare Department.

The State has come up with Do’s and Don’ts for the inmates at quarantine centres which lay emphasis on maintaining a distance of 2 meters, wearing of masks, frequent hand washing, and not using articles of other inmates.

As per official sources, over 6000 temporary medical camps have been set up by the government at gram panchayat levels in the State.

The task of managing the temporary medical camps and quarantine centres has been assigned to authorities of Gram Panchayats (GPs) in rural areas and Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) in urban areas where people from outside the State on their return to their villages or towns will be quarantined for a period of 21 days before being allowed to go to their homes for seven-day home quarantine.

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