Bhubaneswar: With an aim to curb the spiraling rise in Covid-19 cases in the state, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik Tuesday asked State Police DG Abhay to ensure strict enforcement of Covid norms like wearing masks and maintaining social distance in next 10 days.
“We have to enforce the Covid safety protocols strictly to slow down the spread of the virus. DGP will deploy the police personnel in large numbers across the state in a 10-day drive to strictly enforce the Covid safety protocols as notified,” Patnaik said while reviewing the status of the Covid management in the state through video conferencing.
Abhay has asked all SPs and senior police officials to launch Covid enforcement drive from April 7 to April 16 in their jurisdictions. The entire world is encountering resurgence in Covid-19.
Many states of India are witnessing a spike in the disease, he said, adding, “We have been observing an increasing trend in the virus spread over recent weeks in Odisha as well.”
“We have been able to successfully control the first wave of Covid in spite of a challenging situation when the nature of the virus was unknown. We are now battle-hardened and I am sure we will be able to successfully tackle this resurgence of the virus,” Naveen said.
He directed senior officials to reactivate all protocols and make the entire machinery work with enthusiasm and vigour. Currently, the virus spread seems to be mainly concentrated in the districts adjoining the Chhattisgarh border.
Therefore, he asked the Chief Secretary, additional chief secretary, health and family welfare and senior officials concerned to visit western Odisha districts with high incidence of the positive cases.
They will make an on the spot assessment and take suitable action. The health department was asked to immediately redeploy doctors, paramedics, lab technicians to western Odisha districts to strengthen the manpower to fight the virus.
The CM also instructed to ensure sufficient hospital capacity to take care of the rising number of cases.
Adequate ambulances with oxygen supply to be deployed in highly-affected areas and proper monitoring systems to be put in place to ensure that any emergency call is addressed in time and with a sense of urgency and sensitivity, Patnaik stated.
“There should be no complaints about non-responsiveness of ambulances or lack of beds in the hospitals. There is no place for complacency as valuable lives are at stake,” he warned. I&PR department was advised to start a new awareness campaign to sensitise the citizens to follow norms of face mask, hand hygiene and social distancing.
Next four weeks critical: Centre
COVID-19 is spreading at a fast pace with a rise in the intensity of the pandemic and the next four weeks are going to be very critical, the Centre said Tuesday as it stressed on people’s participation to control the second wave of the contagion.
At a presser, NITI Aayog Member (Health) Dr VK Paul said the pandemic situation in the country worsened with a sharp rise in cases and a large part of the population is still susceptible to the virus.
The tools to fight the pandemic remain the same. COVID-appropriate behaviour, containment measures, testing have to be implemented more efficiently, medical infrastructure has to be ramped up and vaccination drive intensified, he said.
COVID-appropriate behaviour like wearing masks, staying away from crowds have to be followed in a campaign mode, Paul reminded people.
“The intensity of the pandemic has increased and it is spreading faster than last time. In some states, it is worse than others but the upswing (in cases) can be observed across the country,” he said.
PNN