MALKANGIRI: In the wake of rise in Covid-19 positive cases, the administration has decided to put people arriving from 13 districts of the state under quarantine.

“Positive cases have been detected in a few people who have no travel history to outside the State but have returned from hotspots like Ganjam, Cuttack and Puri districts. Putting people from 13 districts coming to Malkangiri under quarantine is needed to contain the spread of the virus,” said Collector Manish Agarwal.

As per an order issued by the Collector, people from Ganjam, Cuttack, Bhadrak, Khurda including Bhubaneswar, Jajpur, Nayagarh, Puri, Dhenkanal, Sundargarh, Kendrapara, Gajapati, Balasore and Jagatsinghpur will be put under 14 days of institutional or paid quarantine at temporary medical centres across the district.

However, certain categories of people like pregnant and lactating women and persons aged above 65 years are allowed to remain in home quarantine. Failure to adhere to the order will attract penal action under National Disaster Management Act 2005, Epidemic Disease Act 1897 and section 188 of IPC.

Meanwhile, the district administration sealed the Nigamananda ashram and Anukula Chandra ashram in Balimela and lodged an FIR against the priests for allowing religious gathering in violation of social distancing and lockdown rules on Saturday.

The move came after a devotee of Nigamananda ashram tested positive for the virus on Friday.

The enforcement agencies have collected penalty of `7,80,740 for violation of mask wearing and social distancing norms in the district.

Besides, four Government employees too were penalised for not wearing masks.With the two-day shutdown coming into force in Malkangiri municipality and Balimela NAC form Friday, anganwadi and health workers have intensified contact tracing of positive cases in the areas.

The total number of positive cases in the district has gone up to 134 of which 101 have recovered. The number of active cases now stands at 33.