Coronavirus Alert: Bhubaneswar Airport Begins Screening Passengers

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government has kept all state machinery on high alert for any possible outbreak of the deadly Coronavirus, a top official said on Monday.

“The Odisha government is on high alert to take immediate preventive measures in case of an outbreak of the virus,” the principal secretary of Health, Nikunja Bihari Dhal, said.

Dhal stated that three persons in Malaysia and one in Nepal have tested positive for the virus. “Since Odisha has direct flight services to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, screening of all passengers has begun at the Biju Patnaik International Airport in Bhubaneswar,” he informed.

Dhal was speaking to the media after a video conferencing with the Union Health Secretary, Preeti Sudan, at the National Health Mission office.

“The Centre has agreed to Odisha government’s demand to announce this airport as a screening airport. Apart from this, special arrangements have been made at SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack and VSS Medical College and Hospital in Burla and the district headquarters hospitals,” he added.

He urged the people not to panic about the virus as the state government is fully prepared.

Also on Monday, the Emergency Officer of SCB Medical College and Hospital, Bhubanananda Maharana, said a 40-bed special ward and eight ICUs have been kept ready with a team comprising a professor and two senior doctors of the Pulmonary Department for emergency treatment.