By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, June 3, 2020: The Odisha government on Wednesday asked the district collectors and SPs to focus on community monitoring of corona situation in the wake of 100 Covid-19 positive cases being reported for three consecutive days.

Chief Secretary A K Tripathy issued the direction after interacting with collectors and SPs through a video conference. He also reviewed the situation in each district.

“The month of June is very crucial for all of us in the fight against the COVID-19. Around 4.5 lakh people have returned to Odisha from different parts of the country. Many people have been discharged from institutional quarantine to ”home quarantine”. We have to keep a strict vigil and enforce the laws”, Tripathy told Collectors and SPs.

Since some people did not adhere to the home quarantine norms after being released from temporary medical centres, the government has to issue the direction, officials said adding that as many as 45 people from the community have been detected positive for Covid-19 in last three days.

Tripathy directed the collectors to form ward level monitoring committees and strengthen community surveillance. Active participation of the community can check spike in spread of the disease, he said.

The chief secretary also asked the district collectors to follow quarantine protocols scrupulously without any relaxation. Of the 4.5 lakh migrants who have returned from states with Covid-19 incidence, more than 2.5 lakh are now in different quarantine centres, while the rest have been discharged on completion of mandatory institutional isolation.

A total of 16,651 temporary medical camps or quarantine centres with over 7.42 lakh beds are operating in 6798 gram panchayats across the state. The returnees have to spend mandatory institutional quarantine at the TMC for seven days and then stay in home quarantine for subsequent seven days.

In order to tackle the situation arising out of returnees flouting home quarantine norms, the district administration in coastal Kendrapara has made it compulsory for migrants to undergo institutional quarantine for 14 days mandatorily, he said.

The chief secretary also asked the district authorities to intensify the IEC (Information, Education and Campaign) drive at all levels to keep the people alert and careful.

Odisha has so far reported 2,388 COVID-19 cases of whom 1,416 have recovered, leaving as many as 963 active patients, while seven persons have died of the disease.