COVID-19 Situation Alarming In Odisha, Govt Measures Inadequate: Niranjan

Bhubaneswar: A day after Congress MLA Suresh Routray of Jatni threatened to resort to rail roko in the event of arrival of Odia migrant workers to his constituency, OPCC president Niranjan Patnaik on Monday expressed grave concern over management of the COVID-19 pandemic by the state government.

“The COVID-19 situation in Odisha has reached an alarming proportion with steep rise in the positive cases with the return of thousands of migrant Odia workers from the hotspot areas in other states,” he said.

Stating that about 40,000 migrant workers have arrived in Ganjam, he said far more are still to arrive in a couple of days. The only 200-bed COVID hospital in the district will acutely fall short of handling such a large number of people, he added.

While the government has opened such hospitals in the areas where corona positive cases are very less, Patnaik said more facilities should be opened in Ganjam, Jajpur, Balasore and Bhadrak which have registered a high number of cases.

Pointing out the statement of Assembly Speaker Surjya Narayan Patro that some migrant workers had escaped from quarantine centres in a village to their house, Patnaik said, “Such instances warrant a serious review.”

The OPCC leader said that the state government should consult other political parties and civil societies for proper management of the quarantine centres.

“We request the state government to take the necessary steps at the earliest and come to the rescue of the hapless migrant workers and the poor from the deadly virus,” he said.