Coronavirus: 6 senior officers appointed to tackle COVID-19 in Bhubaneswar

The Odisha government has

appointed six senior bureaucrats for containment of COVID-19 in three zones here after the state capital emerged as a hotspot of coronavirus cases, a senior official said.

Of the total 60 persons who have tested positive for COVID-19 in Odisha, Bhubaneswar alone has reported 46 cases.

The senior officers will oversee intensive sampling of primary and secondary contacts, contact tracing and household survey by surveillance teams in the containment zones, chief secretary A K Tripathy said in a notification.

The officers will also monitor the awareness campaign among the community and supply of essential commodities to the people living in containment zones.

 

While principal secretary st/sc development Ranjan Chopra and principal secretary energy Bishnupada Sethi, have been assigned the north zone, principal secretary excise and commisioner-cum-secretary higher education Saswat Mishra have been assigned the south east zone.

Principal secretary finance Ashok K Meena and commissioner-cum-secretary social security and empowerment of persons with disabilities (SSEPD) Bhaskar Jyoti Sharma have been assigned the south west zone, the notification said.

Bomikhal area in the city has reported 18 positive cases followed by Surya Nagar-8, Jharpada-6, Satya Nagar-4, Unit-4 area-3, Unit-5 area-2 and one each from Sahid Nagar, BJB Nagar, Badagada village, Kapil Prasad and an apartment near AIIMS, Bhubaneswar.

Another person from West Bengal has been detected with COVID-19 and is admitted to a hospital here.

Of the 46 COVID-19 patients, 12 have been discharged from hospitals after their recovery. One person from Jharpada died of the disease on April 6.

The BMC has declared Bomikhal, Jharpada and Surya Nagar areas as containtment zones.

However, restrictions have been lifted from two other areas after door-to-door surveillance.

Meanwhile, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) and Bhubaneswar Smart City Limited (BSC) carried out spraying of disinfectants with the help of drones from Raj Mahal Square to Sishu Bhavan Square on Tuesday, an official said.

Two drones were used on a trial basis, he said.

While one drone was used for surveillance purpose,the other was flying at a height of 2 metres for spraying the disinfectants.

The BMC on Wednesday modified the containment zone in Surya Nagar area, which has reported 8 COVID-19 cases.

A notification said, the containment zone is now confined to areas like NCC Office to National Productive Council Office along Mumtaz Ali Street, National Productive Council to Surya Complex and from Surya Complex to NCC Office.

"Active surveillance will continue in the areas earlier marked as containment zone for the next seven days as a precautionary measure," BMC commissioner Prem Chandra Chaudhury said.

Officials have been asked to de-seal the boundary, earlier marked in the containment zone, and seal all the entry/exit points in the modified area, he said in the notification.