ODISHA HC DIRECTS ;ENSURE RT-PCR TESTS BEFORE ALLOWING ODIA MIGRANTS TO ENTER STATE
Bureau,Odishabarta
BHUBANESWAR:he Orissa High Court today directed the state government to ensure that people who want to return to Odisha undergo RT-PCR test first and then be allowed entry only after they test negative for COVID-19
A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was filed by social activist Narayan Jena appraising the High Court that due to the unchecked flow of Odia migrant workers from other affected states, the number of positive cases in the state is on the rise.
In this petition, Jena stated that around 5 lakh Odia migrants who are presently staying in COVID-19 affected states have registered with the government to return to Odisha. While the rate of infection is considerably low in the State, the return of lakhs of people would deteriorate the condition in Odisha.
The petitioner’s counsel urged the High Court to direct the state government not to allow the Odia migrants to enter the state without undergoing tests as recently the COVID-19 positive cases in Odisha have gone up and most of them are returnees from other states.
Hearing the PIL, the Orissa HC asked the state to conduct the RT-PCR (Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction) test of migrant Odia workers in their state (in the respective States where they are presently staying) and then allow them to enter Odisha only after they test negative for COVID-19.
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