Odisha govt issues guidelines to counter possible fresh wave of Covid-19

The Directorate of Public Health in a letter to all Collectors, Municipal Commissioners and Chief Medical Officers of all districts asked them to strictly implement the guidelines to check the possible outbreak of covid in the state.

The order was issued on Tuesday after several states in the country witnessed a rise in Covid positive cases during the last few days.

State Public health Director Niranjan Mishra said that four to five states are witnessing a rise in Covid cases during the last few days, but the situation in Odisha is not worrying.

He said 10 to 20 cases are being reported daily in the state and the Health Department is taking all precautionary measures and issued a series of guidelines to prevent a fresh outbreak of the covid cases.

As per the guidelines, the authorities were directed to constantly review the emerging data, based on a sustained and critical level of testing to facilitate the decision for restriction/ relaxation based on evidence.

There should be constant review regarding the emergence of new cases clusters, case positivity, population affected, geographical spread of cases and hospital infrastructure preparedness.

ILI/SARI surveillance should be continued as before and an early warning system for detecting the rise of cases should be monitored.

The authorities were also asked to continue keeping a close vigil on people coming from high burden countries/ states.

Periodic surveillance of high-risk and vulnerable populations like health care providers, educational institutions, and residential hostels should be done.

It also asked to strengthen the strategy for Testing - Tracking - Treatment- Vaccination and Covid Appropriate Behaviour.

All steps should be taken to ensure that home isolation protocol is followed and due treatment provision is in place and operationalise all non-Covid health care services.

Ensure vaccination coverage to all beneficiaries as per guidelines issued from time to time and adequate public awareness campaigns should be launched to prevent misinformation and panic.

A contingency action plan for the district should be ready to deal with any upsurge of cases.

The guidelines clearly stated that wearing a mask is compulsory in public places, in workplaces and during transport. Individuals must maintain an adequate distance in public places, and workplaces and avoid overcrowding. Provision of hand wash or sanitiser to be made mandatory at the workplace, it said.