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

Taking extra precautionary measures amidst the coronavirus outbreak, the Ganjam district administration has decided to conduct door-to-door health screening of people across the district from Thursday, an official said.

"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.

Kulange said they have prepared a questionnaire about the COVID-19 symptoms, based on the guidelines.

"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.

According to the Kulange, the district administration has also made it compulsory for people out on the streets to wear a mask or cover their mouths with two to three layer cloth as a part of the preventive measure to fight against the coronavirus.

Those stepping outside without a mask will be penalised with 500 in the rural areas and 1000 in the urban areas.

The total number of COVID-19 cases in Odisha so far stands at 42.