Bhubaneswar, May 7 (IANS) The Orissa High Court, here on Thursday, directed the state government to conduct RT-PCR tests of migrant workers before allowing them to enter the state.

All migrants, waiting to return to Odisha, should test Covid-19 negative before departing for the state, it said while hearing a public interest litigation (PIL), filed by Narayan Chandra Jena.

The court asked the state government to do the RT-PCR (Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction) tests of Odia migrants in the states they were stranded, Jena said.

The state government will bear the RT-PCR test expenses.

Thousands of Odia migrants have started arriving. They are being kept in 14-day quarantine.

The Covid-19 cases increased to 206 in the state.

--IANS cd/pcj