As COVID-19 cases increased in Odisha in the past 10 days, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday sought people’s support to quarantine those returning from West Bengal and other States.
Meanwhile, the number of cases in the State increased to 125, with the detection of seven new cases — three cases in Balasore district, one case each in Jharsuguda, Deogarh and Kendujhar districts, and one in Bhubaneswar.
The cases reported from Balasore, Jharsuguda, Deogarh and Kendujhar were all those who returned from West Bengal. The Bhubaneswar case was a family member of a COVID-19 patient.
Of the total cases, 39 patients had recovered and one had died earlier. The remaining 85 are under treatment at different hospitals, according to the Health Department.
In a video message, Mr. Patnaik said the latest challenge was to take care of those returning from West Bengal. More than 50 of the 125 cases detected in the State had returned from West Bengal, he said.
“When I spoke to you 10 days ago, the number of positive cases was 61. It has doubled now. But there is no need to panic. We can avoid the danger if we stay alert,” he said. The State first faced the challenge when people who returned from other countries and those who returned from Nizamuddin tested positive, he said.
Mr. Patnaik said the coming weeks would be more challenging when Odia people from Maharashtra, Gujarat, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Rajasthan and West Bengal would return home. He asked the people not to be worried if the number of cases went up when Odias returned from States that had witnessed larger infections than Odisha.
Mr. Patnaik appealed to the people to stay vigilant and calm.
