BHUBANESWAR: Treatment in home isolation has been denied to individuals testing positive for Covid-19 on their arrival at the city from the high risk states.An official of Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Sunday said the decision of institutional treatment of these patients has been taken in view of the high infectious strains of the novel coronavirus found in some of the high risk states like Maharashtra, Punjab, Chhattisgarh, MP and Kerala.
Out of 313 antigen tests carried out on people arrived at Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA) from Mumbai and Pune, 11 tested positive. All of them have been admitted to the Covid hospital. Similarly, three persons tested positive at Bhubaneswar railway station have been admitted to the Covid hospital. Other passengers have been advised to undergo home isolation for seven days.
The civic body, however, has allowed treatment in home isolation to seven employees of the SBI main branch at Unit-I who have tested positive for the virus in last 24 hours, he said. The BMC also sealed two floors of the branch for 48 hours after the employees tested positive. Municipal Commissioner Prem Chandra Chaudhary said the ground and first floor of the main branch has been sealed till April 6. The infected persons are undergoing treatment in home isolation. An RT-PCR test camp will be organised for the employees, housekeeping staff and security personnel of the branch on Tuesday, he said.
BMC officials said the closure of first two floors may cause inconvenience for many as the branch caters to the demands of thousands of customers on a daily basis. It, however, was necessary for the safety of the citizens.As many as 38 new positive cases were reported in the city in last 24 hours. While 25 were infected locally, the remaining have tested positive while undergoing quarantine. The fresh cases have pushed the active case tally of the city to 427.