No Hotel Room To Be Allotted To Bengal Tourists In Odisha’s Puri

Puri: Alarmed over the detection of the triple mutant variant of COVID-19 in West Bengal, the Puri district administration on Saturday raided all hotels, lodgings, and dharmasalas in the Pilgrim Town.

Talking to mediapersons, Puri Sub-Collector Bhabatarana Sahu said that special enforcement teams are verifying the RT-PCR reports of the tourists, especially those from West Bengal.

Stating that no tourists from the neighbouring state will be allowed to stay in hotels and lodgings, he said that they will be accommodated at free or paid quarantine centres for 14 days in accordance with the government’s directive.

Also Read: [Watch] 14-Day Quarantine Mandatory For Odisha Natives Returning From Bengal, Says SRC

In view of the alarming rise in COVID-19 cases in the town as well as the district, he requested the denizens to discourage their kin in West Bengal from visiting them during the pandemic and not to allow them to stay either in their house or at guest houses.

Sahu said that 32 checkpoints have been set up along the West Bengal border to stop people from entering Odisha from the neighbouring state. However, the state government has framed the SOP for those arriving in the state by rail, he added.

Notably, the COVID-19 tally in Puri district has gone up to 2,564 in just 23 days since April 1 with the highest of 395 cases being reported on April 23.