Koraput urges Andhra Pradesh to stop people from entering Odisha

KORAPUT: The Koraput administration has sought the cooperation of Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram and Srikakaulam district administrations in Andhra Pradesh to ensure that no person or driver from their areas travel to Odisha.
Collector (Koraput) Abdaal M Akhtar wrote to his counterparts in the Andhra Pradesh districts that people should avoid travelling to Odisha or they will have to undergo the mandatory institutional quarantine of 14 days.
The action was prompted due to the presence of the new mutant of the novel coronavirus, N440K, in the neighbouring state that is 15 times more infectious than certain other strains.
The Koraput administration has already sealed its border with Andhra Pradesh and a database of people entering the state is prepared at the border check posts (BCPs). Documents of people, including the RTPCR negative report, is being verified at the BCPs and people coming from Andhra Pradesh have to undergo mandatory quarantine of 14 days at the temporary medical centres (TMCs), the collector said.
Also, the administration has instructed the field staff and elected representatives in rural areas to keep a watch on the movement of people and inform the concerned block authorities about any person from Andhra Pradesh.
On Thursday, the district entered the red zone after the total number of active cases crossed 1,000 and touched 1,058 with 182 fresh cases. The administration has asked people to strictly follow Covid-19 guidelines of wearing masks and maintaining social distance, Akhtar said.