Fluctuations in the daily COVID-19 casecount and the test positivity rate in Odisha indicates that the situation is not improving steadily in the State as was expected.
For the past 11 days, the daily figures have mostly remained above 3,000, dropping below the mark on two occasions. Similarly the TPR has swayed around 5% during the same period.
The State has entered the fourth phase of lockdown, but non-compliance of COVID-appropriate behaviour is being seen as the prime reason behind the slow improvement in the pandemic situation.
The State on Saturday reported 3,554 fresh cases, compared to 2, 912 on Friday — an increase of 642 cases. The daily cases jumped by 22% in 24 hours.
On June 15, Odisha reported 3,405 cases, registering the first drop below the 4,000-mark after months. However, following that cases saw a rising trend till June 20. The subsequent two days — June 21 and 22 — saw a slight improvement in the situation. However, new cases again went up and remained inconsistent till Saturday.
“People have stopped following lockdown restrictions for past two weeks. The police administration too has not enforced lockdown measures firmly. Leave alone maintaining social distance, people are seen roaming without masks,” a senior Health Department official said.
Delta Plus variant
Speaking on the case of the Delta Plus variant being detected in Deogarh district, Ajay Parida, director, Institute of Life Science, said there was no need to panic.
“People should not panic. The variant was detected in the man in April. In subsequent months, we have not come across the highly transmissible variant,” Dr. Parida said.
The senior scientist advised people to follow COVID-19 protocol to break the chain of transmission.
A health team visited the man recently to assess his condition. “The man was vaccinated on March 30 and swab was collected from him as he had come in contact with a symptomatic patient. Since he remained asymptomatic throughout, we need not have to worry. It seems he benefited from the vaccination,” Bijay Mohapatra, Director of Health, said.
