Representative image
BHUBANESWAR: The Odisha government on Monday asked hospitals, both government and private, to avoid non-essential hospitalizations and defer elective surgeries in view of second wave of Covid infections.
A fresh set of guidelines issued by the state issued by the Directorate of Health Services (DHS) asked the hospitals to stop all elective surgeries while take up emergency surgeries with universal precaution.
Amid rising Covid infections, the government asked the hospitals to suspend central registration of patients, to avoid crowds in queue, for OPD care. Instead, it asked them to do manual registration by maintaining social distancing.
The government move came on a day the state witnessed 1,741 new infections and two deaths. The state has been reporting more than 1,000 new cases per day for past four days. The state now has 9,259 active cases.
Representative image.
BHUBANESWAR: People entering Odisha by trains and flights from 12 other states and UTs which have been witnessing a spurt in Covid-19 infections will be screened for possible infections, the state health authorities said on Thursday.
Additional chief secretary (health) Pradipta Kumar Mohapatra said people coming from or through Maharashtra, Kerala, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Delhi, Punjab, Chandigarh, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh will be screened at their point of arrival. “Those with any symptom will be put test. Anyone found positive will stay in isolation, preferably home isolation,” he said.
Mohapatra wrote to all the district collectors and municipal commissioners to ensure thermal screening of passengers coming from these states in airports and railway stations. Those with fever will be subjected to rapid antigen test on the site itself. Since there is a spike in cases, this is necessary to prevent infection