Coronavirus: 6 senior officers appointed to tackle COVID-19 in Bhubaneswar

Bhubaneswar, Apr 15 () The Odisha government hasappointed six senior bureaucrats for containment of COVID-19in three zones here after the state capital emerged as ahotspot of coronavirus cases, a senior official said.

Of the total 60 persons who have tested positive forCOVID-19 in Odisha, Bhubaneswar alone has reported 46 cases.

The senior officers will oversee intensive sampling ofprimary and secondary contacts, contact tracing and householdsurvey by surveillance teams in the containment zones, chiefsecretary A K Tripathy said in a notification.

The officers will also monitor the awareness campaignamong the community and supply of essential commodities to thepeople living in containment zones.

While principal secretary st/sc development RanjanChopra and principal secretary energy Bishnupada Sethi, havebeen assigned the north zone, principal secretary excise andcommisioner-cum-secretary higher education Saswat Mishra havebeen assigned the south east zone.

Principal secretary finance Ashok K Meena andcommissioner-cum-secretary social security and empowerment ofpersons with disabilities (SSEPD) Bhaskar Jyoti Sharma havebeen assigned the south west zone, the notification said.

Bomikhal area in the city has reported 18 positivecases followed by Surya Nagar-8, Jharpada-6, Satya Nagar-4,Unit-4 area-3, Unit-5 area-2 and one each from Sahid Nagar,BJB Nagar, Badagada village, Kapil Prasad and an apartmentnear AIIMS, Bhubaneswar.

Another person from West Bengal has been detected withCOVID-19 and is admitted to a hospital here.

Of the 46 COVID-19 patients, 12 have been dischargedfrom hospitals after their recovery. One person from Jharpadadied of the disease on April 6.

The BMC has declared Bomikhal, Jharpada and SuryaNagar areas as containtment zones.

However, restrictions have been lifted from two otherareas after door-to-door surveillance.

Meanwhile, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC)and Bhubaneswar Smart City Limited (BSC) carried out sprayingof disinfectants with the help of drones from Raj Mahal Squareto Sishu Bhavan Square on Tuesday, an official said.

Two drones were used on a trial basis, he said.

While one drone was used for surveillance purpose,theother was flying at a height of 2 metres for spraying thedisinfectants.

The BMC on Wednesday modified the containment zone inSurya Nagar area, which has reported 8 COVID-19 cases.

A notification said, the containment zone is nowconfined to areas like NCC Office to National ProductiveCouncil Office along Mumtaz Ali Street, National ProductiveCouncil to Surya Complex and from Surya Complex to NCC Office.

"Active surveillance will continue in the areasearlier marked as containment zone for the next seven days asa precautionary measure," BMC commissioner Prem ChandraChaudhury said.

Officials have been asked to de-seal the boundary,earlier marked in the containment zone, and seal all theentry/exit points in the modified area, he said in thenotification. AAMMM MM