Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Government today issued a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for return of Indian Nationals, hailing from Odisha, stranded outside the country.
According to the SOP:
1. People intending to return to Odisha from foreign countries shall have to register themselves on the state portal https://covid19.odisha.gov.in prior to their departure from the foreign country.
2. E&IT Department shall utilise the existing Outbound Call Centre to facilitate collection of relevant passenger information as per the list obtained from Airlines, segregate it District/ Municipal Corporation wise and send it to the concerned Collectors/ Municipal Commissioners.
3. The Collector/ Municipal Commissioner will accordingly make necessary arrangement to communicate relevant information to the concerned Gram Panchayat Nodal Officer (GPNO)I Ward Nodal Officer (WNO) for ensuring compliance of home quarantine/ paid quarantine protocols.
4. Commissioner of Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation in coordination with the Airport Authority /CISF/ Odisha Police shall set up required number of facilitation counter(s)at the Biju Patnaik International Airport, Bhubaneswar.
5. On landing at Biju Patnaik International Airport, the passengers will de-plane in a regulated manner (20 passengers in a batch) and walk with their hand baggage to the facilitation counter(s) set up at an earmarked area outside the terminal building.
6. All passengers shall be stamped with indelible ink on their right inner forearm and thermally screened.
7. The symptomatic passengers will be segregated and sent to an isolation bay for completing their immigration formalities and will be shifted to the institutional facility for testing and quarantine by District/ Municipal authorities.
8. The airline ground handling staff will collect the check-in baggage of such passengers from the conveyor and load in the dedicated vehicle/ ambulance.
9. Asymptomatic passengers will be allowed to proceed to the immigration in the terminal building and, after immigration, they will be allowed to proceed to their home or paid quarantine facility on their own arrangement. Such passengers will he required to give an undertaking to remain in home/ paid quarantine facility and follow the protocols for a period of 28 days.
10. Hand baggage and Check-in luggage of passengers shall he sprinkled with disinfectant spray by the Health/ Municipal Corporation/ Fire Service personnel.
11. No porter service will be available in the airport.
12. CISF/ Bureau of Immigration will ensure safe movement of passengers on the tarmac and within the terminal and restrict vehicle movement accordingly.Movement of passengers and drivers of the vehicles from the airport shall be allowed on the basis of boarding pass. Operation of cab aggregators like Ola and Uber will be allowed for the purpose.
13. CRUT may operate limited services from airport for convenience of passengers, with valid boarding pass.
14. Outbound Call Centre shall monitor the passengers in paid quarantine through phone calls to ensure that such persons abide by quarantine protocols for a period of 28 days from the date of arrival in Odisha.
15. GPNO/ WNO shall affix Home Quarantine sticker on the houses of the returnees in case of home quarantine. If the house is found to be unsuitable for home quarantine, GPNO/ WNO may order for institutional quarantine.
16. GPNO/ WNO will regularly check/ monitor the returnees in home quarantine and ensure that such persons abide by quarantine protocols for a period of 28 days from the date of arrival in Odisha.
17. In case, the person manifests any symptom during home quarantine, he/ she shall inform 104 Helpline and thereafter, if necessary, he/ she will be transferred to the Covid Care Centre/ Covid-19 Hospital and further steps shall be taken as per protocols prescribed by H&FW Department.
18. In case of violation of the quarantine guidelines and norms of social distancing, the GPNO/ WNO shall report the matter to the Collector! Municipal Commissioner for initiating necessary legal action against the person concerned.