Odisha government offices to function with 50 per cent staff strength in November

BHUBANESWAR: Inview of the Covid-19 situation, the State government on Friday decided that its offices in the Capital city of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack will function with 50 per cent staff strength in November and ensure that office work does not suffer.

An order issued by the General Administration and Public Grievances department said that all State government offices will continue to remain closed on Saturdays. 

The order said all departments of the government and sub-ordinate offices will have 50 per cent strength of employees including Group-A officers during the month.

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The departments and heads of offices will decide which employees will attend office.However, the essential offices and services including Special Relief Commissioner and Odisha State Disaster Management Authority (OSDMA), police, fire services, health services and municipal services will function with full strength.

The departments have been asked to ensure that Covid-19 guidelines are strictly followed by the employees to prevent further spread of coronavirus. In case of detection of Covid-19 cases among the employees, the office will follow the government protocol, it said. The employees, who have been provided with VPN, have been asked to work from home if not directed to attend office. 

State reports 1,547 new cases, 11 more deaths
Bhubaneswar: The State recorded 1,547 new Covid-19 cases in last 24 hours taking the tally to 2,88,646. Eleven more patients also succumbed to the disease during the period. With this, the death toll rose to 1,361. The daily positivity rate dropped further to 3.47 per cent (pc) from 3.9 pc on the previous day as the number of tests went up to 44,506. With 159 new infections, only Khurda district reported more than 100 cases. Cuttack registered less than 100 cases for the second time this month.

As many as 1,800 patients recovered on Friday bringing down the active cases to 13,447.  Meanwhile, the State Capital continued to report less than 100 Covid-19 cases for the second consecutive day. BMC officials said 87 cases and two more fatalities were reported in the city in last 24 hours. With two more deaths, the Covid toll in the city has also mounted to 164.