After recording a slow growth in COVID-19 cases during the first four months of the pandemic, Odisha is now riding the virus graph briskly with reporting of three consecutive 1,000 cases-a-day.
The State on Friday reported 1,594 COVID-19 cases — highest single day spike so far — taking the total to 22,693. The death-toll is also shooting up rapidly to reach 120.
The first COVID-19 case was detected in Odisha on March 15. By June 30, total positive cases were counted to be 7,065 while 25 persons had died of the COVID-19. The State had then found itself better placed compared to other States.
However, the month of July made the matter worse. The State’s COVID-19 tally just tripled in July while death-toll increased by almost five times.
In the past 72 hours, as many as 3,936 positive cases were detected accounting for 17% of State’s tally.
Ganjam, the epicentre
Ganjam, home district of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and the epicentre of the pandemic, has been leading contributor to the exponential growth in the cases. One third of total cases in Odisha were detected from Ganjam (7,634 cases) while in death cases the district’s contribution was above 58%. Ganjam alone reported 732 positive cases on Friday.
Exhorting people not to panic, Ganjam District Collector Vijay Amruta Kulange said, “the sudden increase in COVID-19 cases was due to administration’s efforts to identify symptomatic patients through door-to-door survey. Moreover, the district had alone received 4 lakh migrant workers since the outbreak of pandemic. The situation is still under control with majority of rural areas identified to be non-affected zones. In next few weeks, the COVID-19 cases are expected to come down.”
Ganjam is followed by Khordha district under jurisdiction of which capital city of Bhubaneswar comes. Khordha so far reported 2,676 COVID-19 cases. Of 2,676 — 1717 were reported in Bhubaneswar alone.
The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) found itself in a spot as more than 100 slums had reported COVID-19 cases.
With plasma therapy showing encouraging results, Chief Minister Patnaik asked his Cabinet colleagues to visit different districts and coordinate collection of plasma from people who had recovered from the disease.
