Back'Get vaccinated or lose govt benefits': Odisha tells health, frontline workers
Odisha is in the third position among states and union territories in terms of the number of HCWs and FLWs vaccinated so farThe state's Covid-19 caseload mounted to 3,36,767 on Tuesday as 62 more people tested positive for the infection
PremiumThe Odisha government on Tuesday took a tough approach towards those healthcare and frontline workers who have registered for vaccination but are now refusing to get the anti-Covid jabs without a genuine ground.
The healthcare workers and frontline workers backtracking from getting the vaccine without any genuine reasons will cease to enjoy privileges granted by the state government in case of Covid-19 infection, said additional chief secretary to the health and family welfare department P K Mohapatra in a letter to the district collectors and commissioners of five municipal corporations.
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The government has decided to disallow such health care workers and front line workers to avail free treatment, period of isolation/treatment being counted as duty, financial and other benefits in case of death, the letter said.
As the state has inoculated over 85% of health care workers, Mohapatra said that Odisha is in the third position among states and union territories in terms of the number of HCWs and FLWs vaccinated so far.
"The state has procured valuable vaccines for them after they got registered and but now some of them are backtracking," he said.
State Health and Family Welfare Minister N K Das had told the Assembly that the state government has spent nearly ₹389.59 crore for the treatment of Covid-19 patients since the outbreak of the disease in the state in March 2020.
Special Relief Commissioner P K Jena asked all district collectors and commissioners of municipal corporations to focus on the strict implementation of health safety guidelines in public places to contain the spread of the disease amidst reports of a fresh outbreak of contagion in some states.
Special attention should be given to schools where physical classes have resumed, he added.
Cases in Odisha
Meanwhile, Odisha's Covid-19 caseload mounted to 3,36,767 on Tuesday as 62 more people tested positive for the infection.
The state, during the day, registered the recovery of 77 patients, taking the total number of cured persons to 3,34,243 which is 99.25% of the caseload.
The states fatality ratio stands at 0.56% while the positivity rate is 4.1%.
Of the fresh cases, 37 were reported from quarantine centres and 25 detected during contact tracing.
Sambalpur district recorded the highest number of new cases at 12, followed by Khurda and Cuttack at seven each.
Dhenkanal, Kandhamal and Nabarangpur districts have turned coronavirus free as there is no active case there, a health department official said.
The state's Covid-19 toll remained unchanged at 1,914 as no fresh fatality was reported since Friday last week.
Fifty-three other coronavirus patients have died in the state due to comorbidities.
Odisha now has 557 active cases, which is 0.16% of the caseload.
The state has so far conducted over 82 lakh sample tests for Covid-19, including 17,392 on Monday.
With inputs from agencies.
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