Bhubaneswar Spike In Local Contact COVID Cases A Wake-Up Call For Odisha Govt

Bhubaneswar: With the surge in COVID-19 positive cases in Odisha reaching alarming proportions, tackling local contact cases in the capital city has become a huge challenge for the state government as it aims to check the spread of the deadly virus.

As per data available with Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC), local contact cases in the city in the last 30 days (June 5 to July 4) has gone up by 150. The number of positive cases reported between June 5 and 19 was 23, while in the next 11 days (June 20-30), as many as 102 cases came to light. And in four days of July so far, there have been 25 fresh cases.

Exactly three months ago, the state government’s chief spokesperson on COVID-19 Subroto Bagchi had explained the uphill task of contact tracing and resources required to get the job done. He had said during a press briefing on April 4 that if 100 samples test positive on a single day, and taking an average of 50 persons coming in contact with each person, the government has to contact 5000 people the same day, which requires 100 tracking teams and 1000 officials, 10,000 vehicles and 5000 COVID test kits.

Also Read: Odisha Fights COVID-19: Contact Tracing To Become Herculean Task, Says Subroto Bagchi

Tracing of local contact cases will also be difficult due to the non-availability of travel history. The delay in tracing will only result in multiplying the number in no time.

Notably, of the total 944 COVID positive cases reported from Khurda district as on June 4, Bhubaneswar accounts for 414 which is about 44 per cent of the total cases.