Coastal Odisha appears more fearful of the coronavirus than known enemy cyclone, with many residents refusing to shift to government shelters ahead of Cyclone Yaas for fear of catching the infection.

A bemused administration, its plans to complete evacuation of vulnerable areas by May 25 morning now under threat, is emphasising its efforts to maintain physical distancing at the shelters and equip the buildings with medical teams, isolation wards and sanitisers.

It has also enlisted Anganwadi workers, accredited social health activists (Asha workers), and members of panchayats and self-help groups to persuade those reluctant to move to the cyclone shelters.

But Parshuram Pradhan, 56, a resident of Basta in coastal Balasore district, said the protracted threat of the virus made it a bigger danger than the short-lived rampage of a cyclone.

“We have experienced several cyclones, including Amphan (last year), and survived all of them. If we move to the cyclone centres and get infected, the epidemic situation will deteriorate further after the cyclone,” he said.

“We will not move to the cyclone centres. Let’s see what provisions the government has made to face up to such a situation.”

Yaas is expected to make landfall between Paradip in Odisha and Sagar Island in Bengal on May 26.

“This time, we are facing a new challenge,” Amrit Ruturaj, collector of coastal Kendrapara, told The Telegraph.

“We are trying to persuade people to be ready to move to the cyclonic centres. By May 25 morning, we shall evacuate all the people from vulnerable places. The cyclone’s impact will be felt from May 25 till it makes landfall the following day.”

Ruturaj said the government had taken precautions against the spread of Covid inside the shelters.

“To each cyclone centre, we have attached a medical screening team. Besides, we have converted school buildings into (makeshift) cyclone centres. All possible care will be taken to maintain social distancing,” he said.

“All inmates of the cyclone centres will be given masks. They will be given sanitisers frequently by our people to (disinfect) their hands.”

The collector added: “Whenever we find Covid symptoms in any person, they will be moved to the isolation ward.”

Similar preparations have been made in other coastal districts like Balasore, Bhadrak and Jagatsinghpur.

“People are not ready to move to the cyclone centres. Most of them are scared of catching Covid,” senior Balasore-based journalist Sibdas Kundu said.

Special relief commissioner P.K. Jena, who has just recovered from Covid, told this newspaper: “All precautionary measures have been taken to face the onslaught of Yaas.”

So far, 22 National Disaster Response Force teams have reached Odisha.

“Another 10 teams are likely to reach the state this (Sunday) evening. They will be mobilised to the vulnerable points,” NDRF director-general Satya Narayan Pradhan told a local TV channel.