BHUBANESWAR: Criticising the State Government for its mismanagement of migrant problem, senior Congress leader Santosh Singh Saluja on Saturday demanded that all returnees from Maharashtra and Gujarat should be tested for Covid-19.
Alleging that all returnees staying in the temporary medical centres (TMCs) for quarantine are not being tested, Saluja said many of them are testing positive after going back to their homes. The Congress MLA claimed that if the number of testing will be increased, nearly one lakh out of the four lakh migrants will test positive for Covid-19.
Saluja also criticised the Government for frequent changes in quarantine period in the State. First it was 21 days institutional quarantine followed by 14 days home quarantine, he said and added that it has now been brought down to 14 days and seven days respectively.Alleging mismanagement in the quarantine centres opened in rural areas of Balangir district, he said 40 returnees were in quarantine at Mokhand centre in Tureikela.
But none of them were tested and released, he said and added that one of them tested positive after returning home. Giving several such instances of mismanagement in quarantine centres at Lebda in Muribahal block and Biripali in Bangomunda block, Saluja demanded that steps should be taken to ensure that all undergoing quarantine at TMCs are tested.