COVID19 sneaks into Odisha, State Govt brings out carrot & stick policy!

Bhubaneswar: Foreseeing a big threat from foreign soil, Odisha government on Monday has rolled out a 'specific measure' for people returning to the State from abroad to undergo a mandatory registration here.

Announcing the first-ever such measure in the country, State Chief Secretary Asit Tripathy said, "People returning to State from abroad or have returned to State before March 4, 2020 have to mandatorily either register themselves through a toll free number 104 or log on to the website covid19.Odisha.gov.in". He added either they have to register with all essential details like contact number, permanent and temporary address etc. before their arrival to the State or within 24 hours after their arrival.

Tripathy said advance information will help the authorities to trace and track their movement. Moreover, they will be advised for a 14-day quarantine period.

Significantly, in order to improve compliance, the State government has also announced an incentive of Rs 15,000 to one who successfully follows the COVID-19 protocol announced by the State government.

On the other hand, the Chief Secretary has virtually warned that failure in compliance to the Covid-19 protocol set up by the State government is liable to prosecution under Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) and Indian Penal Code (IPC).  

Explaining the urgency of such an exigency measure, the CS explained that State government foresees return of more such professionals, students from Odisha living abroad following closure of edu instititions and offices abroad. And this has the potential to multiply the already grave scenario here, he observed.

The mandatory registration for persons coming to State from abroad will remain in force till April 15th, Tripathy informed.

Moreover, in order to bring up more quarantine centres at panchayat and block levels, the State government has issued certain guidelines to the cyclone centres, community centres or other similar govt buildings having 24X7 water supply and electricity to be ready to function as temporary quarantine centres, if exigencies arise.

The COVID-19 Scenario in India as on 16 th March: Till 4 PM, the total positives in the country stood at 115. When 97 positives are Indian citizens, 17are foreign nationals. A total of 13 get cured. And the death toll stood at 2 only.

World Scenario:  As of evening today 157 countries have reported Covid-19 positives. The death toll stood at 6,525. And 77,000 were cured.