BMC open to relaxation despite +ve test
Bhubaneswar: Another day without a Covid-19 positive test would have placed Bhubaneswar from red to orange zone, a tag it had been actively pursuing over the past few weeks. But Wednesday’s positive result of a 77-year-old man, father an earlier positive person, dashed that hope.
The city continues to remain in red zone with 19 active cases, 27 having recovered and one death. “There is a little difference. The new case is related to an old case from Madhusudan Nagar,” Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) commissioner Prem Chandra Chaudhary said.
According to the Union health ministry guidelines, a hotspot district can move from red zone to orange if it doesn’t report any positive case for 14 days. Bhubaneswar reported the case on the 14th day. It had last reported four positive cases on April 15. An orange zone can become green if it doesn’t report any positive case for 28 days.
Chaudhary, however, said this one case will not alter the current scenario and there won’t be any containment in the area. “We will go for more aggressive testing. The BMC and police will continue monitoring and keep vigil to ensure social distancing is followed,” the commissioner added.
The BMC, which brought in some relaxation on Tuesday by allowing shops selling electronic items to open as well as those selling electrical goods, mobile repair shops and garages, went into a huddle soon after the positive case was detected. “The relaxation will continue as usual,” the commissioner said, providing relief to those who had to keep their shops locked up for a prolonged period, affecting their livelihood.
The BMC said despite the positive case, all shops including standalone ones and those located within residential complexes, except multi-brand and single-brand malls, can stay open. Besides, shops that repair and service electrical and electronic appliances, garages, tyre, battery and lubricant shops have been asked to open.
The BMC has also allowed courier and home delivery of food besides book stores to open. The offices of big business establishments and industries have been asked to reopen with 25 per cent employee strength.
A week ago, BMC had allowed construction of projects within its limits with labourers from its jurisdiction only. For that, it had to allow transportation of construction material between 10 pm and 5 am.
The labourers should strictly belong to the area where the work is underway. Secondly, sale of construction material is allowed and shops selling them can open. Third, transportation of material from the shop to the site will have to be carried out at night, a BMC official said.
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