Amid surge in coronavirus cases, Odisha govt seals border with Chhattisgarh

-

Bhubaneswar: Amid the surge in COVID-19 cases in Odisha, the government on Saturday sealed its border with Chhattisgarh and intensified patrolling along the interstate boundary.

Districts bordering Chhattisgarh have registered a spike in coronavirus cases over the past few days, prompting the administration to issue an order asking people from the neighbouring state to furnish their COVID-negative reports for entry to the state, senior officials said.

Chief Secretary SC Mohapatra, who visited the western districts of Kalahandi and Nuapada during the day, asked officials to reinitialise awareness campaigns, and take strict action against people if they fail to abide by the health protocols, despite requests and warnings.

"Do not show any mercy to offenders of COVID-19 protocols, after holding awareness campaigns for two to three days. Let people understand that wearing face mask is mandatory to avoid the spread of infection," the chief secretary said at a review meeting in Nuapada district.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has, meanwhile, ordered the administration to double the penalty rate for not wearing masks. People will have to cough up Rs 2,000 for the first two violations, and the fine would go up to Rs 5,000 for subsequent transgressions.

Official sources said the COVID-19 situation in Nuapada district, bordering Chhattisgarh, has been categorised as "critical", after infections there recorded a five-fold jump over the past four days.

Mohapatra, along with senior officials, checked treatment facilities in the two districts, and gave assurances that steps are being taken to increase beds in ICUs and ramp up clinical examination.

The sources also said that migrant workers, who had returned to their place of work after the COVID-19 situation improved across the country, are coming back in hordes.

State labour minister Sushant Singh said arrangements were being made for the returnees. "Migrants are returning to Odisha from some highly- infected states. All district administrations have been asked to keep Temporary Medical Camps (TMCs) ready at the entry points to meet any eventuality. A detailed guideline for migrant workers will be issued soon," the minister said.

Odisha on Saturday registered its highest single-day spike in 2021 with as many as 1,374 people testing positive for the infection, which further pushed the tally to 3,48,182, the health department said. Two fresh fatalities in the coastal state raised the toll to 1,926, it added.



from Firstpost India Latest News https://ift.tt/2Rl2MEh
Press Trust of India

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Both COVID-19 vaccine doses needed for good protection against B16172 variant

-
It’s been a concerning few weeks in the UK, with the B16172 variant first taking hold and then spreading to become dominant. This more infectious form of the virus, initially identified in India, is what we’re now going to have to live with – unless it is out-competed by another variant in the future. Worryingly, experts had predicted that B16172 might be able to escape some of the effects of vaccines, which if true would threaten to derail the UK’s plans to finish lifting restrictions from the end of June. However, Public Health England (PHE) has looked at the ability of various variants to evade immunity and says that the UK’s vaccines remain effective against the variants circulating, including B16172. On the surface, this looks like good news. But delve a bit deeper, and things get more complicated, says Paul Hunter, professor of medicine at the University of East Anglia. PHE’s research found a little drop-off in protection against B16172 among people who were fully vaccinated.
Read more

New coronavirus variant emerge in India: How should our COVID response change?

-
Image
After genome sequencing of over 10,000 COVID-19 cases in India, researchers have discovered a new variant with two new mutations which may be better at evading the immune system. In 15-20 percent of samples from the Indian state of Maharashtra (the state accounting for 62 percent of cases in the country) a new, double mutation in key areas of the virus has been detected. These are now known as the E484Q and L452R mutations. What makes the variant different? Both these mutations are concerning because they are located in a key portion of the virus – the spike protein – that it uses to penetrate human cells. Spike proteins attach via a “receptor binding domain”, meaning the virus can attach to receptors in our cells. These new mutations include changes to the spike protein that make it a “better fit” for human cells. This means the virus can gain entry more easily and multiply faster. Given what we have seen with other similar mutations , it might also make it harder for our immu
Read more

120 flights delayed, 30 trains running late; Delhi fog & cold wave continue to give shiver to travellers

-
Arrival and departure of 120 flights, both domestic and international, to Delhi airport were affected due to dense fog and cold wave conditions on Wednesday, according to Delhi Airport FIDS (Flight Information Display System). As per the Delhi Airport FIDS, a total of 53 flights, including 21 domestic arrivals, 16 domestic departures, 13 international departures and three international arrivals scheduled are cancelled and not operating due to fog and other operational reasons from and to Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport in the national capital on 17 January. #WATCH | Delhi: Several flight operations delayed at IGI airport due to low visibility amid fog. pic.twitter.com/hG1DUKllEt — ANI (@ANI) January 17, 2024 Visuals from the Delhi airport showed passengers waiting outside, checking update of their scheduled flights. There were also some people waiting for flight of their families, friends and loved ones to arrive, which got delayed due to fog. #WATCH | Delhi | Pas
Read more