Odisha to implement weekend shutdown, stop religious congregations to prevent spread of COVID-19
Passengers at Bhubaneswar station. Photo: Ashis Senapati Some 24 pilgrims who returned to Odisha after visiting the Kumbh Mela in Haridwar have tested positive for the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) April 19 and 20, 2021, officials said.
The state government has mandated a two-week home quarantine for Kumbh pilgrims to check the spread of the disease, Bijay Panigrahi, the director of the state health and family welfare department, said.
Thirteen of the 24 pilgrims are from Cuttack city, 10 from Rayagada district and one from Bhubaneswar. All those who tested positive are being kept in isolation.
Checkpoints have been set up at railway stations, bus stands and airports to screen people for COVID-19. Auxiliary nurses and midwives and Anganwadi workers have been directed to keep a watch on Kumbh returnees and inform officials to ensure that none of the returnees misses undergoing RT-PCR tests for COVID-19, Panigrahi added.
All vaccination centres will be closed during the weekend shutdown in Odisha. While Odisha is facing an acute shortage of COVID-19 vaccines, one lakh more doses of Covishield have arrived in the state April 20, Panigrahi said.
Special Relief Commissioner-cum-Additional Chief Secretary Pradeep Kumar Jena had said April 19 that there would weekend shutdowns in all urban areas of the state. All the 10 districts bordering Chhattisgarh already have a weekend shutdown. Now, the remaining 20 districts will also follow suit.
The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) decided April 20 to close all religious institutions in the city in view of the surge in COVID-19 cases, BMC Commissioner Prem Chandra Chaudhary said.
The decision was taken after discussions and consultation meetings held by zonal deputy commissioners with the management committees, presidents and secretaries of the religious institutions.
“It has been decided that from now onwards, devotees will not be allowed to visit religious institutions. However, regular rituals in religious institutions will be conducted,” Chaudhary said.
Some 22 flying squads have been formed by the state-level committee constituted by the Odisha government to stop hoarding and black marketing of medicines and other healthcare supplies essential for treatment and prevention of COVID-19, YK Jethwa, additional director general of police, Odisha, said.
Migrants’ fate
The second wave of COVID-19 had brought fears of social and economic insecurity to many families across Odisha as many migrant workers were returning to the state in the wake of fresh lockdowns, Umi Daniel, the director of non-profit, Migration and Education Aide et Action, said.
Many states were not strictly implementing the Inter-State Migrant Workmen (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1979, Daniel added. As a result, the fate of many migrant workers was hanging in the balance.
Parliament had enacted this Act to regulate the condition of service of inter-state labourers in Indian labour law. The Act’s purpose is to protect workers whose services are requisitioned outside their native states in India.
Whenever an employer faces shortage of skills among locally-available workers, the act creates provisions to employ better skilled workers available outside the state.
“Migrant workers are the real contributors to the country’s economy. But unfortunately, their role is not recognised,” Daniel said.
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