BHUBANESWAR: As Odisha gears up for the FIH Men’s Hockey World Cup scheduled to go underway from January 13, the state government has decided to strengthen Covid testing and surveillance in Bhubaneswar and Rourkela - the two cities that will host the quadrennial event.
As the two cities will be drawing huge crowds, both domestic and foreign, for the international sporting event at a time when there is a global resurgence in Covid and the possibility of its spread to India, officials said the Health and Family Welfare department has decided to create walk-in testing facilities in all urban primary health centres (PHCs) and community health centres (CHCs) of Bhubaneswar and Rourkela.
“The facilities will be readied in PHCs and CHCs of both the cities before the World Cup,” public health director Dr Niranjan Mishra said. Dr Mishra said the current ICMR guideline suggests testing either for the high-risk contacts of those infected with Covid or those who have Covid-like symptoms.
He also clarified that the situation in Odisha is under control and there is no further requirement of ramping up tests. “Daily infection count in our state has remained below 12 since November 11 last year. Besides, total cases are below 50 and no one is hospitalised at present,” Mishra said.
As it is, the Odisha government has already decided not to screen international passengers at the Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA) in Bhubaneswar. The public health director said the Centre already has provisions for screening of those coming from abroad at international airports and the Hockey India will also have its own protocols for screening and testing of international team members. In Odisha, direct international flight operations are yet to resume from BPIA for which the need for testing at the airport hasn’t been felt, he said.