Bhubaneswar, Maintain Social Distancing To Prevent Explosion In COVID Cases Like Indore: Odisha Govt

Bhubaneswar: Chief spokesperson of the Odisha government on COVID-19, Subroto Bagchi, on Monday said that it would not take long for Bhubaneswar to become an Indore, which has so far reported 892 positive cases and 49 deaths, if people keep violating the social distancing norms.

“People in rural areas have understood the importance of the social distancing to keep the deadly coronavirus at bay, but it is not the case in urban localities of the state,” he said.

Bagchi said that people in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack have not been maintaining proper distance between themselves while at market places and this can lead to an explosion in COVID-19 cases.

Indore and Bhubaneswar are among the 170 hotspots to have been identified in India. While Indore reported its first case on March 25, Bhubaneswar saw a man testing positive for the virus on March 16. The positive cases in Indore have since swelled to 892 with 49 deaths, he said.

Odisha has so far reported 74 positive cases. With 24 having recovered from the infection and one death, the number of active cases in the state is 49.

“To keep the cases under check, we have to follow the social distancing norms and wash hands regularly,” he added.