While Corona is scaring everyone and state afterrnstate is now in the grip of the viral attack, there is one state in the countryrnthat has managed to control Corona very effectively. That state is Odisha.rnThough the first case was discovered on March 16, the state government hasrnconducted massive awareness campaign across the state. All the MLAs werernsensitised about Corona. By March 13 itself, that is three days before thernfirst case, Odisha chief minister Navin Patnaik had a detailed action plan readyrnin the state.
rnrnMassive screening has been taken up across the staternand every suspect and all those who came in contact with them have beenrnscreened. Due to this screening, quite a few cases were detected and they were effectivelyrnquarantined. As a result, the state has managed to contain the spread of thernvirus. Due to which the number of cases is very limited. Every foreigner, whornentered Odisha was made to mandatorily register himself and periodically reportrnhis movements in a social media portal, especially devised by the State Government.rnThis has ensured that the possible carriers were easily identified andrnquarantined. As many as 4000 such foreigners had reported to the social mediarnportal and were effectively monitored.
rnrnOne interesting thing to be noted is that the Odisharngovernment had paid salary advances for the coming four months to all therngovernment employees as a result of which the employees did not suffer anyrnanxiety over salaries. This is quite a departure from neighbouring AP andrnTelangana, which have actually cut the salaries.