Odisha Govt seeks travel details of IT workers as State reports first Coronavirus patient

Electronics and Information Technology (IT) Department of the Odisha Government on Tuesday, asked the Software Technology Park and all IT/ITES companies in the State to provide the history of foreign visits of their employees.

The department has also directed its employees with a history of recent foreign visits to immediately register with Odisha's COVID-19 online portal.

If any employee fails to declare details of his/her travel history, the person would be punished under the regulation for prevention and containment of Coronavirus Disease-2019 (COVID-19), stated the department. 

READ | Mandatory For Foreign Travellers To Register Themselves On Return To Odisha

Labour Commissioner of Odisha, N Thirumala Naik, has issued guidelines to be followed at worksites with regard to COVID-19 and directed all employers and contractors to follow the same. Similarly, Directorate of Factories and Boilers has also issued guidelines for factory management and directed all factories to strictly follow the rules.

The development comes a day after Odisha reported its first case of Coronavirus pandemic. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik-led State Government has geared up to implement the 'carrot and stick policy' method to track all incoming foreigners in Odisha. 

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Odisha reports its first case of Coronavirus

Odisha on Monday reported its first case of coronavirus. A 33-year-old man tested positive for the infection in Bhubaneswar, said Subroto Bagchi, Chief Spokesperson on Coronavirus for the Odisha Government. "His condition is stable and he is not showing any other complications," he told media. 

The man returned from Italy to Delhi on March 6 and then reached Bhubaneswar by train. He consulted a doctor on March 13, complaining of fever and headache. 

READ | Odisha's COVID-19 Patient Came In Contact With 129 People: Govt

"The man then went to Capital Hospital on March 14 where he was admitted to the isolation ward. His blood and swab samples were sent for medical examination and tests confirmed that he is infected by novel coronavirus," Bagchi said. 

As the man travelled through train, the state government has launched a contact tracing exercise to find out who all have come in contact with the infected man, added Bagchi. Data of all those people who travelled by the researcher on the train is being collected so that they can be tracked and quarantined too; meanwhile, his family has also been quarantined and kept under observation. 

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(With inputs from ANI)