Rayagada: At a time when there is a lot of apprehension among people about the deadly coronavirus, Rayagada Police arrested a man on charges of spreading fake news regarding the outbreak of COVID-19 in the district.
On Friday, the accused Satyanarayan Samal (32), a native of Kandhamal district, was arrested from Ambadola village in Rayagada district.
Senior police officials informed that Samal had shared a post on his Facebook account stating coronavirus has reached Rayagada. "A person who arrived from Kerala was infected with coronavirus and admitted to Rayagada district headquarters hospital," his post mentioned.
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During verification, the news shared by Samal turned out to be fake. “We got information that a news regarding coronavirus outbreak is getting viral on social media. During verification, we found it to be false and arrested one person for creating panic by spreading false news,” said Rayagada SP, Saravana Vivek M.
Though not a single positive case has been reported in Odisha, adequate steps are being taken by Odisha government to tackle the situation.
Odisha became the first State in the country yesterday by declaring the virus pandemic as disaster for the State under the Disaster Management Act 2005. A fund of Rs 200cr earmarked to augment public health response Fund to fight the viral menace.
Besides, all schools, cinema halls, pools, gyms and other public places like Planetariums across Odisha will remain shut till March 31 as a precautionary measure. Nandankanan Zoological Park will also remain out of bound for visitors from March 15 (tomorrow) till March 31, the zoo authorities announced today. This apart, all permissions to public congregations, meetings and processions stand cancelled.
A strict vigil is being maintained at Biju Patnaik International Airport in Bhubaneswar for screening of passengers.
East Coast Railway (ECoR) has directed to remove blankets in (AC) Tire I, II and III train coaches, in view of pandemic Coronavirus. J P Mishra, PRO, East Coast Railway informed that train toilets will be washed at major stations.
Meanwhile, SCB Medical College and Hospital has swung into action to deal with any emergency situation arising out of the coronavirus outbreak.
At present, there is a provision of 46 beds and eight ICU beds at SCB and if necessary, it will be increased after reviewing the situation, said SCB emergency officer BN Moharana.