Community Transmission Fear Looms Large In Odisha’s Ganjam With 70% Local COVID-19 Cases In 4 Days Of July

Berhampur: Three new cases on June 30 morning. This was just a lull before the raging COVID-19 storm took over Ganjam district, with positive cases being reported in three digits on almost all days since then.

July 1 and July 2 saw 102 and 95 new infections, respectively. Then came the highest single-day spike of 283 cases on July 3, followed by 216 on July 4.

The surge in cases, mostly through local contacts, prompted the Odisha government to appoint two IAS officers as Special ADMs in charge of the Chatrapur sub-division and Bhanjanagar sub-division of the district and depute six OAS officers to work under the district administration to help in COVID management.

The Odisha Police also deputed four young Deputy SPs and four additional platoons of force in Ganjam district.

The three-digit scare continued on July 5 with 115 new patients, which took the affected tally in the district to 2181.

According to the updates from July 1 to July 5 (barring July 4 when the administration did not share details of the patients), 428 of the total 595 cases were through local contacts. This amounts to a staggering 71 per cent of total cases reported in these four days.

As many as 141 corona warriors were also infected during this period.

Also Read: 108 Corona Warriors Infected Since June 13 In Odisha’s Ganjam

Besides, six COVID-19 deaths have been reported in the district since July 1.

The total number of active contact cases reported from the district in the last 14 days is 798. These two weeks saw a surge of 1168 COVID-19 cases. The number of corona warriors infected during this period is equally alarming — 263.

Amid the rising cases, Collector Vijay Amruta Kulange advised people suffering from flu or fever to visit COVID care centres instead of general hospitals.

A massive door-to-door survey was conducted to isolate those with symptoms of the virus.

Also Read: Mission Zero COVID-19 To Be Launched In Berhampur

Mission Zero COVID-19 was also launched in Berhampur Municipal Corporation (BeMC) area on June 24 to identify the COVID-19 symptoms and co-morbidity, provide emergency treatment at doorsteps and create awareness on COVID-19, TB, malaria, dengue and diarrhoea and prevention activities. According to the BeMC, 70 teams screened 3,71,322 people and 65 among 217 suspected cases were found to be positive.

The Berhampur city was under complete shutdown for four days till June 30.

Also Read: Odisha’s Berhampur City To Remain Shut Down For Four Days

On June 24, the administration also ordered the closure of all government offices in Ganjam district for 10 days due to the rising threat of COVID-19 infection.

Also Read: Corona Scare: Govt Offices In This Odisha District Closed For 10 Days

With people continuing to violate COVID-19 guidelines by crowding market places, throwing social-distancing norms to the wind during weddings and shunning use of masks, the administration has a lot to take care of, besides the migrants and the patients, in the days to come.