Odisha govt makes wearing face masks mandatory in health facilities

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government has made wearing face masks mandatory in all health facilities as the active COVID-19 caseload in the state crossed the 3,000 mark on Monday, an official said.

Odisha now has 3,086 coronavirus-infected patients, and 181 more were cured of the disease in the last 24 years, he said.

In a letter to all stakeholders, including chief district medical officers, the public health directorate said, “In view of the rising of COVID-19 cases both in the country and in Odisha and as part of adopting COVID appropriate behaviour in health institutions, it has been decided to enforce the use of masks in all the health institutions.”

Public Health director Niranjan Mishra said the order applies to all healthcare providers during duty hours, all officials and others present in meetings.

“If you experience symptoms like cold, cough, fever and sore throat, you should isolate yourself and go for a COVID-19 test. Wear a face mask properly whenever you go outside, avoid crowded places and maintain hand hygiene to protect yourself from coronavirus,” the health department had earlier said in an advisory.

The state health authorities have been focusing on the detection of cases to arrest the spread of the disease and testing 6,000-7,000 samples for the last few days, the official added.