BHUBANESWAR: In the midst of COVID-19 resurgence in some states of the country, Odisha government on Saturday warned that the re-imposition of lockdown can not be ruled out if people do not take safety measures and follow the norms.
Director of Medical Education and Training (DMET) Prof CBK Mohanty said coronavirus cases are on the surge in several states and there are reports of people getting infected with the new strain from UK.
“Since there is no travel restriction, it is possible that people returning from such states may carry the infection. The cases may spike here too if people do not adhere to Covid appropriate behaviour. If cases rise, there will be no other option but to reimpose the lockdown to enforce the Covid guidelines,” cautioned Prof Mohanty.
A day after the State government sounded an alert following rise in new cases in Maharashtra, Kerala, Punjab and Chhattisgarh, Collectors of several districts, including Ganjam and Khurda, which were the worst-hit during the first wave, have issued instructions for precautionary measures like proper masking, sanitisation and social distancing in public places.
While Khurda district administration has asked the authorities of Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA) to keep a tab on the travellers coming from the countries and states where cases are on the surge, Ganjam has issued an SOP on implementation of Covid guidelines.
Ganjam Collector Vijay Kulange has asked block level officials and urban local bodies to ensure strict implementation of Covid appropriate behaviour in crowed places including markets, religious institutions, public and private offices and set up checking points in all blocks and ULBs.
The government has administered five lakh doses of Covid vaccines in last one month. While the State has received 11,84,350 doses, including 9.31 lakh Covishield and 2.53 lakh Covaxin, healthcare workers have got 3.85 lakh doses and frontline workers have received 1.47 lakh doses.