Caseload & People’s Behaviour To Determine Unlock Decision In Odisha: DMET

Bhubaneswar: A day after the Odisha government warned people against spreading lies about unlock guidelines, Director Medical Education and Training CBK Mohanty said that any decision to relax lockdown restrictions will depend on daily caseload and behaviour of the people.

“COVID test positivity rate (TPR) is declining and it will continue to drop further. the government will review unlock measures after taking into account the situation. Experts are also being consulted,” he said.

Though the TRP had dropped below 5 per cent in 12 districts, it continued to be volatile in the remaining 18 districts, he said.

The TRP in six districts (Khurda, Puri, Cuttack, Jajpur, Balasore and Mayurbhanj) is more than 7.5 per cent. These districts are in Red Zone with over 2500 active cases.

Mohanty said that the delta variant has proved to be more infectious. “If there are more people in a house, masks should be used by all,” he said.

The delta variant was first detected in India in December 2020 and has now spread to 60 nations. The World Health Organization has classified it as a “variant of concern,” meaning it may be associated with increased transmissibility.

Commenting on the illegal trading of spurious medicines in Odisha, he said this is not new for the state. “There are specific rules and provisions to deal with such cases. The state government is aware of this and will take stern action after a thorough investigation,” he pointed out.

On the import of ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) machines for the treatment of critical COVID patients, the DMET said the state government is trying to procure the life-support equipment through tender and other arrangements.

Admitting that it is a cumbersome process, he said AIIMS-Bhubaneswar is yet to procure the equipment despite starting the process in November last year.

Mohanty, however, said that the state government will operationalise the ECMO machines as soon as they are provided by the overseas manufacturing companies.