A five-day shutdown from July 9 to 13 was on Thursday imposed in all urban areas and five block headquarters of Ganjam district for the purpose of door-to-door health screening in view of the rapidly rising Covid-19 cases.
The shutdown has been imposed in Berhampur Municipal Corporation (BeMC), Hinjili Municipality and 16 Notified Area Councils (NACs). The block headquarters include Sheragada, Sanakhemundi, Patrapur, Dharkote and Jagannath Prasad.
The screening is being conducted by 200 teams of doctors. More than seven lakh people would be screened during the drive, the district administration said and urged the people not to hide any symptoms relating to their health.
All Government offices and banks in the urban areas of the district are closed for public during the shutdown, it said.
“Door-to-door health screening will be carried out in a campaign mode in these areas during the complete shutdown period,” said Ganjam Collector Vijay Amruta Kulange. Apart from checking symptoms for Covid-19, the health teams would also collect data on diseases like tuberculosis and malaria, he said.
However, during the shutdown period, essential services like medical facilities, agriculture works would continue without any restriction, he said.
After the urban areas, such screening would be conducted in rural areas in the second phase, the Collector added.