Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Sunday asked people to practise social distancing and refrain from spreading misinformation about coronavirus, saying that extraordinary circumstances call for an extraordinary response.
Two days after his Government declared the dreaded disease as a “State disaster” and allocated Rs 200 crore to combat it, Patnaik appealed to the citizens that each one has to be committed as an individual and each family has to act as a responsible unit to protect one other from this pandemic.
Emphasising that collective and responsible action is required to successfully contain the spread of the disease, Patnaik said personal inconveniences would be faced and families may have to make sacrifices, but extraordinary circumstances call for an extraordinary response.
Each one should avoid social gatherings and assemblies like religious functions, marriage receptions, he said. “Being at home, reducing social interactions and avoiding gatherings will cut down vulnerability to a great extent,” he said.
Notably, o far, no corona case has been confirmed in the State. “All the 22 swab and blood samples collected from coronavirus suspects till Saturday have tested negative,” an official said.