Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday directed senior officials to focus on western Odisha districts which have witnessed a high incidence of COVID-19 positive cases recently.
Reviewing the COVID-19 situation in the state, the chief minister said currently, the virus spread seems to be mainly concentrated in the districts adjoining Chhattisgarh border.
“I would urge the Chief Secretary, ACS Health and Family Welfare and senior officials concerned to visit the Western Odisha districts with high incidence of the Covid positive cases and make an on the ground assessment and take suitable urgent action,” he said.
The chief minister directed the Health department to immediately redeploy doctors, paramedics, lab technicians in Western Odisha to strengthen the manpower required to fight the virus. There should be sufficient hospital capacity to take care of the increasing cases.
Adequate ambulances with oxygen supply should be deployed in the highly affected areas and proper monitoring systems put in place to ensure that any emergency call is addressed timely and with a sense of urgency and sensitivity. There should be no complaints about non-responsiveness of ambulances or lack of beds in the hospitals.
Stating that the COVID-19 safety protocols have to be enforced strictly, Naveen directed DGP to deploy the police personnel in large number across the state in a 10-day drive to strictly enforce the safety protocols as notified.
He also told the Information &Public Relations department to start a new awareness campaign to sensitise the citizens to follow norms of face mask, hand hygiene and social distancing.
At the district-level, the chief minister told the collectors to involve all sections of the society including the PRI members, Mission Shakti groups, etc to ensure awareness and enforcement.
“This new wave of COVID virus spread seems to be more infectious and might create a devastating situation, if we do not take it seriously. I appeal to all the people of Odisha to be alert and follow the norms and please cooperate with the enforcement machinery. There is no place for complacency as valuable lives are at stake,” Naveen said.
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