Surge in COVID-19 cases in Odisha temporary phenomenon : Addl Chief Sec

Terming the surge in COVID-19 cases in the state as a temporary phenomenon, the Odisha government on Thursday asked people not to panic and assured that it was striving to ensure that no potential case go undetected.

The coronavirus situation in Odisha is "much better" than other states, Additional Chief Secretary, Health and Family Welfare, PK Mohapatra told newsmen here.

The recovery rate in the state is above 65 per cent and the fatality rate is one of the lowest at 0.54 per cent against the national average of 2.5 per cent, he said.

"The surge in coronavirus cases is due to the door-to-door survey being conducted in hotspots in the state till July 31. The surge is therefore a temporary phenomenon," Mohapatra told newsmen here.

The coronavirus situation in Odisha is "much better" than other states, he said.

The recovery rate in the state is above 65 per cent and the fatality rate is one of the lowest at 0.54 per cent against the national average of 2.5 per cent, he said.

At present, there are a total of 21,099 COVID cases in Odisha against the state's caseload of 7,065 cases on June 30.

"Do not panic over high detection of positive cases. Today, 1,264 cases have been detected. The surge is due to house-to-house surveys by our health workers. We are literally chasing the virus so as to identify, isolate and test symptomatic persons," Mohapatra said.

The door-to-door survey is being conducted in the hotspot districts of Ganjam, Khurda, Cuttack and Jajpur along with Rourkela city. It began on July 18 and will continue till July 31.

"I urge everyone not to hide symptoms and come forward for testing. The government is bearing the end-to-end cost of COVID-19 test so that not a single case goes undetected in the state," he said.

The district collectors have been asked to prepare vision documents for the next six months keeping in view the emerging situation. The health department is already prepared to face the eventuality for the next four months, Mohapatra said.

Stating that the state government has expedited the coronavirus testing, he said the RT-PCT test is being done in 19 places and testing will start in another six places soon.

There is adequate stock of essential medicines, including remdesivir and hydroxychloroquine, and over three lakh antigen kits are available in Odisha, he said.

Speaking on hospital facilities, he said there is only 37.27 per cent occupancy of beds in all the COVID-19 hospitals and COVID-19 care centres in the state. The government has also made preparations keeping in view the probable surge of cases in August.

Stating that over 70 per cent of the cases are asymptomatic, Mohapatra said the people with mild or no symptoms should undergo home isolation and treatment in order to reduce the burden on hospitals leaving them for the critical and moderate patients.

As many as 103 asymptomatic cases in Bhubaneswar are under home isolation, he said, adding that more plasma banks will be set up in the state as it has been helpful for the critical patients.

Two plasma banks will come up at MKCG Medical College Hospital at Berhampur and another at Capital Hospital in Bhubaneswar.

The plasma donors will be provided facilities of lodging for one day as they are required to come 24 hours before donating plasma, he said.

With the pandemic impacting the people's mental condition, the government has plans to roll out vehicles carrying medicines for mental health conditions, he added.