The State Government has appointed six IAS officers for containment and prevention of COVID-19 in the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) areas after the capital city has emerged as the epicentre of the virus spread in the State.
While ST and SC Development Secretary Ranjan Chopra and Energy Secretary Bishnupada Sethi have been assigned the north zone, Excise Secretary KK Lohani and Higher Education Secretary Saswat Mishra have been assigned the south-east zone.
Finance Secretary Ashok K Meena and Social Security and Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (SSEPD) Commissioner-cum-Secretary Bhaskar Jyoti Sarma have been assigned the south west zone, stated a notification issued by Chief Secretary Asit Tripathy.
The move came after Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik reviewed the status of disease at a high-level meeting on Tuesday.
The concerned senior officers would be in overall charges of overseeing the containment and prevention activities including intensive sampling of primary and secondary contacts, contact tracing, household survey by the surveillance team in the containment zone and supply of essential commodities to the households under containment.
The officials would coordinate with the BMC or Commissioner of Police and other administrative departments working in the fight against COVID-19.