Bhubaneswar: After more than two years, Odisha government Thursday announced revocation of the orders and guidelines issued earlier under the Disaster Management Act for COVID-19 containment in the state.
The order was imposed across the state March 13, 2020 in view of the surge of COVID-19 cases, which was declared as a pandemic in the country.
“In pursuance of the provisions under Section 2 (d) of the Disaster Management Act, 2005 (hereinafter referred to as ‘Act’), the State Government does hereby revoke/ de-notify (earlier Covid-19 containment measures)… Henceforth, orders and guidelines under the Disaster Management Act, 2005 shall not be issued for COVID containment measures,” an order signed by the Chief Secretary and released Thursday said.
The order also said if any surge in the number of cases is observed, the state government “may take prompt and proactive action as advised by Ministry of Health, Government of India, from time to time.”
The SRC further ordered that this De-notification be published in the next issue of Odisha Gazette.
The Ministry of Home Affairs, through a notification on March 22, 2022 has communicated that after taking into consideration the overall improvement in the COVID situation and preparedness of the Government to deal with the pandemic, NDMA (national disaster management authority) has taken a decision that there may not be any further need to invoke the provisions of the DM Act for COVID containment measures.
Accordingly, after the expiry of the existing Ministry of Home Affairs order on February 25,2022, no further Order may be issued by MHA.
However, advisories on some COVID containment measures, including on the use of mask and hand hygiene, will continue to guide the overall national response to the pandemic issued revised guidelines for surveillance, containment and caution with regard to COVID-19 pandemic.
Meanwhile, Odisha Thursday logged 32 COVID-19 cases taking the tally to 12,87,640 cases of whom 12,78,081 patients recovered from the disease.
PTI
