With over 5.5 lakh people returning to Odisha so far, the state government on June 16 launched a 45-day intensive surveillance to detect coronavirus symptoms among the population.

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ASHA and anganwadi workers have started visiting villages across the state and slums in urban pockets to find out and take note of people having COVID-19 symptoms. They will cover 53,845 villages and all slums in 103 urban pockets in the state between June 16 and July 31, the National Health Mission's Odisha director said.

The survey is being done after the ICMR instructed COVID-19 tests for all symptomatic persons and for all close to those infected with coronavirus. "We are inquiring about the general health in families and asking them whether they have flu or other symptoms akin to COVID-19," a ASHA worker in Khurda district, said. "We are making people aware that they should not hide their symptoms as their treatment will be done free of cost by the state government," an anganwadi worker in Kendrapara district said.

An official of the information and public relations department said as all the returnees are now either in the quarantine centres or their houses after completing the quarantine period, this is the proper time to conduct a survey on the symptoms in the community. The door-to-door survey is therefore being conducted, the official said.

Official sources said that a large number of migrant workers have returned to their homes from Gujarat, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Kerala among other places by 'Shramik Special' trains. So far, 5,53,945 Odias have returned to the state, including 3,635 people, on June 16, the official said, adding that the returnees are being lodged in quarantine centres both in the rural areas and urban pockets.

The state government has set up 16,815 temporary medical centres and camps in 6,798 gram panchayats for the quarantine of people returning to villages. In all these centres, a total of 7,62,345 beds have been arranged to provide COVID-19 health services in rural areas, he said. Apart from trains, more than 1.5 lakh people have returned to the state by 15,542 buses and other vehicles. A total of 1,277 people have also returned to Odisha by air from the UAE, US, Oman, Nepal, Kuwait and others. Highest number of 640 people returned from the UAE, the official said.