Bhubaneswar, November 28: In view of the detection of the new Covid variant Omicron in at least eight countries, Odisha Government on Sunday sounded an alert for a possible third wave and made quarantine of foreign returnees mandatory with genome sequencing of Covid positive samples of people from high-risk countries.
During a video conferencing with all the district Collectors, SPs and CDMOs, Chief Secretary Suresh Chandra Mohapatra today asked the officials to ensure genome sequencing of Covid positive samples of people from high-risk countries.
“As schools and colleges have reopened in the State and livelihood & economic activities have also been resumed, we need to be more vigilant to prevent the third wave,” said Mohapatra.
He directed the Collectors, Municipal Commissioners and CDMOs to reactivate the system and engage all ward and village level healthcare workers to collect information on returnees in their respective areas.
The officials have also been directed to accelerate the vaccination process by starting door-to-door vaccination as early as possible.
Maintaining that special attention is being given to passengers arriving at the Biju Patnaik International Airport, Additional Chief Secretary (Health) RK Sharma said apart from enhancing the RT-PCR testing to aid in early identification, focus will be given on monitoring hotspots where recent cluster of COVID-19 positive cases have reported.
Development Commissioner-Cum-SRC PK Jena directed officials to go for strict enforcement of Covid guidelines and take stern action against the violators.
Director (Public Health) Dr Niranjan Mishra said all foreign returnees, especially the travellers coming from high risk countries, will have to remain in quarantine for 14 days.
