Odisha government ramps up COVID-19 testing capacity to 15,000 a day

The Odisha government has decided to ramp its COVID-19 testing capacity to 15,000 per day, an official said on Tuesday. At present, the state's testing capacity is 15,000 tests per week.

State government's spokesperson Subroto Bagchi said the number of COVID-19 tests would be increased to 15,000 per day with the help of additional private testing laboratories approved by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has decided to ramp up COVID-19 testing in the wake of migrant workers returning from other states. The senior officials will also act as ‘district observers’ who will be responsible for ensuring the organized return of migrant Odias.

Bagchi said that CM Patnaik has asked for the smooth return of the registered persons who will undergo a compulsory 14-day quarantine after their return. The workers would be provided with accommodation, food, and medical treatment free of cost, he added.

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Nearly 5 lakh stranded citizens register with Odisha Govt

With the Odisha government making efforts to bring back its citizens stranded in different states, a total of 4.86 lakh people have registered their names with the state government to return.

Informing about the development, Subroto Bagchi said, "So far, 4.86 lakh people have registered on state government's portal, which is launched for registration of migrants (who) want to return back to Odisha."

"Gram Panchayat nodal officers of 6,798 GPs in the state and all BDOs, who are appointed as nodal officers have been trained to facilitate the registration procedure," Bagchi added.

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He said that the Panchayati Raj and Drinking Water Department has geared up in arranging temporary medical camps/centres to receive migrants for quarantine in the future. So far, 7,102 temporary medical camps/centres with 2.27 lakh beds have been made functional.

Odisha has made it mandatory for the migrants to register their names with the state government. With seven new cases recorded on Tuesday, Odisha's COVID-19 tally has increased to 118. The number of active cases in the state is 80, and total recovered cases are now 38.

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