COVID-19: Odisha's Ganjam district to conduct door-to-door screening of 7 lakh families

In the wake of the deadly Coronavirus that has taken the world hostage and with an alarming surge in the number of COVID-19 positive cases in the country as well, the Ganjam district administration of Odisha has decided to conduct door-to-door health screening of people across the district from Thursday.

"From April 9, the district administration is going to conduct health screening of around 7 lakh families across the district. Our aim is to know about their health status and want to verify the data about the people having any travel history," Vijay Amruta Kulange, Collector and District Magistrate of Ganjam told ANI.

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"Our three-member teams including a teacher, one Anganwadi worker and one helper will go to every family, and conduct the screening asking them about the symptoms, travel history of any family members, etc. A team of health department will assist them in case they find any symptomatic person," the collector added.

The district administration has prepared a questionnaire about the COVID-19 symptoms, based on the guidelines. 

Kulange also added that the administration has made masks compulsory for all the citizens while stepping out of their homes as a part of the preventive measure to fight against the deadly pandemic and imposed a penalty of Rs 500 in rural areas and Rs 1000 in urban areas for those stepping out without masks. The total number of COVID-19 positive cases in Odisha stands at 42, of which one has succumbed to the virus while two have been cured and discharged.

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COVID-19 impact on India

The nation is witnessing an alarming swell in the number of positive cases. Despite the nationwide lockdown in its 15th day, the number of COVID-19 positive cases in India stands at 5,274, of which 149 have succumbed to the infection while 4,714 cases are still active; 410 have recovered and discharged according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.