The Odisha government on Sunday expressed concern that the district level surveillance teams have failed to contact a total of 2,856 persons who had returned to the State from abroad during the past 14 days.
The District Collectors and Municipal Commissioners have been asked to establish contact with these foreign returnees for prevention and control of the disease.
“They need to be contacted at the earliest to ensure their home quarantine. This task has to be carried out by Collectors and Municipal Commissioners,” State Health Secretary Nikunja B. Dhal said in a letter.
Emphasising on active surveillance of people who have returned from COVID-19 affected areas abroad, Mr. Dhal said that those persons could infect others unless home quarantined.
3 positive cases
On the other hand, the number of positive COVID-19 patients remained three in the State. The three patients were undergoing treatment in two different government hospitals in Bhubaneswar.
Meanwhile, the wife and daughter of the third patient were tested negative for the virus infection. While the first two patients had returned from abroad, the third person had visited Delhi and Haryana and returned to Bhubaneswar by flight earlier this month.
The private hospital where the third patient was treated has been sanitised and advised to provide emergency continuum care such as dialysis, according to the Health Department.