Labourers from COVID19 areas not allowed to work in Bhubaneswar

Sambad English Bureau Published On : Jul 3, 2020 at 5:09 PM

Bhubaneswar: In view of fast increasing COVID-19 cases in the State capital, Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) has issued fresh guidelines restricting engagement of labourers from COVID hotspot areas to contain spread of deadly virus in the city.

As per guidelines, the labourers belonging to hotspot State or districts will not be allowed to work in Bhubaneswar till end of July.

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“Any business organisation like industrial, construction, hotels/hospitality, contractors (both government and private) shall not bring any worker/labourer from outside state to BMC jurisdiction till July 31,” said BMC Commissioner said in a release today.

The civic body advised the organisations and contractors to utilise locally available human resources till end of July.

In case, the business establishments bring workers or labourers from outside State, they should ensure their quarantine for a period of 14 days from the date of their arrival.

If the workers deployed by an organisation develop symptoms of COVID-19, the business owner will have to bear expenses for conducting COVID test on the workers and will inform the BMC about the result, BMC Commissioner said.

The workers will have to go for 14 days mandatory quarantine even after undergoing COVID test.

In case, the business establishments planning to hire workers from other part of the State, they should avoid bringing any worker from hotspot districts including Ganjam, Gajapati, Balasore, Cuttack and Jajpur. They can prefer workers from non hotspot districts till July 31, the release stated.

However, the same principle of 14-day quarantine and testing strategy mentioned above shall have to be followed. Any deviation in this regard by any business establishment shall be viewed seriously.

The move came after a few workers from outside Odisha and engaged at an under-construction apartment were tested positive for COVID-19 in Bhubaneswar recently.

Even though, the workers were under quarantine, the possibility of spread of the virus due to small negligence cannot be ruled out, the BMC said.