With state government urging people to practice social distancing and refrain from spreading rumours about coronavirus (COVID-19), district administrations are stepping up measures to ensure there is no public gathering and help reaches suspected cases on time.
The Sambalpur administration opened a ‘corona cell’ at the collectorate on Wednesday. The cell will coordinate with district administration, monitor cases and disseminate various information related to coronavirus to the public, said PD DRDA and in-charge of the cell, Sukanta Tripathy.
“We urge people to communicate with officials of the corona cell if they require medical help or any other assistance. They can also report any misinformation, large gathering or any other situation that can trigger panic among people under the current circumstances”, he said.
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Citizens can call up the helpline number 1077, grievance cell of Collector at 18003456791, contact the District Emergency Officer at 06632412407 or the ADM at 06632410386.
Meanwhile, the district administration is also setting up medical camps at gram panchayat level with required manpower and medical facilities to deal with situation at grassroots. These camps will be monitored by the corona cell.
On the other hand, a team of civic body officials and police visited various supermarkets and grocery stores at Rourkela on Wednesday to take stock of the precautionary measures adopted to prevent spread of coronavirus. The Rourkela Municipal Corporation (RMC) team asked the authorities of supermarkets and stores dealing in food, grocery and other essential items to limit the crowd of customers and ensure shoppers are kept scattered and not huddled at one place.
They were directed to keep alcohol-based sanitiser and install wash facility at the entrances while keeping the premise clean and disinfected.
In Malkangiri, a team of the district administration officials including the Sub-Collector Rameswar Pradhan toured various places in the town and made public announcements to sensitise people on the coronavirus. The weekly market at Sikhapali, 17 km away from the town, which usually witnesses large gathering every day, wore a deserted look on the day.
In Puri, the pilgrim flow into Sri Jagannath temple and Mangala temple at Kakatpur was regulated by district administration. Both the religious institutions received very less number of devotees on Wednesday.
The rituals and offering of ‘bhog’ to Lord Jagannath and His Siblings were conducted on time. The temple cooks (Suara servitors) prepared a small quantity of commercial bhog while the Kotha bhog (statutory offering by temple administration) offering was normal.
While hotels, bars and restaurants were closed on Tuesday, tourists have been asked to vacate the hotels within the next 24 hours. Visitors coming to Puri via road from neighbouring states are being asked to return from Pipili toll plaza. A joint team of RTO, police and health staff are also screening the visitors at the toll plaza.
The Chilika Development Authority which runs mechanised ferry service in Chilika and motorboat operators were on Tuesday directed to carry only one-third of their original passenger capacity.
SER hikes platform ticket price
The South Eastern Railway (SER) has hiked the price of platform ticket at Rourkela railway station to check unnecessary rush. In a statement on Wednesday, the SER informed that prices of platform tickets have been revised in the range of `20 to `50 considering gradation of the stations to prevent overcrowding at stations. Accordingly, the price of platform ticket has increased to Rs 30 from Rs 10 at Rourkela railway station and the new rate will be applicable from Thursday.
SER sources till Wednesday, there was no significant drop in footfall of passengers at Rourkela station.