The Supreme Court on Friday stayed an interim order passed by the Odisha High Court that directed the state government to allow only migrant workers who tested negative for the coronavirus to enter the state, Live Law reported.

The top court stayed the order after the Centre said it was “unworkable” and passed without consultation. “The impugned order creates an unreasonable and impossible pre-condition on the part of governments and the migrant workers who wish to travel back to their places,” the Centre told the top court.

In its petition, the Centre also said the Orissa High Court did not take into account the government’s standard operating procedure and “impinged upon the executive domain.”

The High Court on Thursday ordered that migrant workers stranded in other parts of the country due to the nationwide lockdown should test negative for the coronavirus before entering the state. There was no clarity on who would pay for those tests.

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Odisha has reported 219 cases of the coronavirus and two deaths, according to data from the Union health ministry. Till Wednesday, 35,540 migrant workers had returned to Odisha. Another five lakh workers are expected to arrive over the next few weeks. The incoming migrants will be sent to quarantine facilities.

State governments are on high-alert as thousands of migrant workers travel to their native places on special trains. West Bengal, Assam, Bihar and Jharkhand will start testing migrant workers who have returned from other parts of the country for Covid-19, regardless of whether they have symptoms, officials told Scroll.in.

India has reported 56,342 coronavirus cases and 1,886 deaths so far, according to the Union health ministry. The Centre on Friday said 216 districts in India have no coronavirus cases and pegged the recovery rate at 29.36%.

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