The Odisha government has started filing criminal cases against people on charges of violating home quarantine protocols. Of the over 3,400 people who returned from foreign, more than 100 are suspected to be roaming outside.
“We have received registration from 3,474 people who have come from abroad. They had opted for home quarantine. But, during regular follow-up, we have come to know that more than 100 people have violated quarantine protocol,” said Kishan Kumar, State Works Secretary who is now heading 104 Helpline.
Mr. Kumar said these people would be taken to task for risking lives of others.
“It was suspected that a person registered for home quarantine after his return from the U.S. was not following the advice and was indulging in risky behaviour. On getting intimation from the Health Department, the police did necessary verification and found that the person moved in market place in Cuttack,” said an official. He was later shifted to institutional quarantine.
The State police are all set to book another foreign-returned person for risky behaviour in Bhubaneswar.
In a unique initiative, the State government had offered an incentive of ₹15,000 to each person registering with the State on coming from abroad. At the same time, it had threatened with legal actions if a person would not give disclosure about travel history.
The persons who have returne from foreign can register both with portal https://covid19.odisha.gov.in and toll free helpline number 104. The government has also come up with outbound call centre through which doctors are in regular touch with people in home quarantine.
During regular follow-ups, some of these people had failed to give satisfactory answers. Seven doctors have been engaged to talk to people in home quarantine. The helpline number received over 12,000 calls on Sunday. As of now, 76 samples were tested, two of them were found to be positive.
Meanwhile, ‘janata curfew’ call given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi evoked total response. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik expressed his gratitude to the people for giving wholehearted support to the ‘janata curfew’. He appealed for similar cooperation for the restrictions being enforced in five districts and nine urban centres in the State till March 29.
