52,723 migrants return to Odisha

Bhubaneswar, May 9: Even as 52,723 Odisha natives have returned to their state, five special trains from three different states will bring back 5,000 more stranded Odias on Saturday. The trains will start their journey after the Supreme Court stayed an Orissa High Court order that had directed that migrants returning to their state must test COVID-19 negative. An East Coast Railway (ECoR) official said three trains will arrive from Gujarat, and one each from Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. Two trains will leave from Ahmedabad, and one each from Surat, Panvel station in Mumbai, and Chennai, the official said. As many as 6,340 Odisha natives returned on Saturday. So far, 52,723 Odias have returned by trains, buses and other vehicles, said Odisha government's COVID-19 spokesperson Subroto Bagchi. He said 14,308 temporary medical centres have been readied in 6,798 gram panchayats. A total of 5,75,215 beds have been arranged there to provide COVID-19 health services in rural areas, he said. So far, Odisha has reported 294 corona positive cases, including 112 linked to Surat. "There has been increase in number of positive cases in last few days. However, there is no reason to panic as these cases have been mostly detected in the quarantine centres," said Bagchi. All returnees are directly taken to quarantine centres for mandatory quarantine. (IANS)