BHUBANESWAR: Faced with low compliance to the Covid safety advisory like wearing masks and maintaining social distancing in the wake of a steep rise in cases, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) has warned to bring back strong enforcement of the rules, including penalties, besides imposing stricter restrictions.
Though the BMC has asked people to wear masks outside their homes, in workplaces, and in public spaces, there is a blatant disregard for the norms in the city. Municipal Commissioner Vijay Amruta Kulange said they have not started the enforcement yet to prevent any kind of disruption to business and economic activities.
“We are trying to make compliance to Covid safety norms a community initiative. However, if people continue to flout the Covid rules and Covid cases rise, the civic body will be forced to impose restrictions and carry out enforcement,” he said.
Meanwhile, the active case tally of the city breached the 400 mark after 170 more new cases were detected in the last 24 hours. The bed occupancy of Covid patients in hospitals has also increased from 3 to 15 this week.