‘COVID-19 Positivity Rate in Odisha Likely To Come Down By September Last Week’

Bhubaneswar: The surge in the COVID-19 positive cases in Odisha is expected to come down from the last week of September, said Niranjan Mishra, Director, Public Health on Thursday.

He, however, said the positivity rate will fall, if the people strictly abide by the standard protocol like maintaining social distancing, wearing masks and frequent hand washing.

Mishra said since 80 per cent of the cases are asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic, the people can undergo treatment in their homes. As most people prefer home isolation, the government has decided to increase the number of home isolation by allowing the people having no comorbid symptoms to go for it.

Talking about the existing treatment facilities in the COVID hospitals and COVID Care Homes in Cuttack and Bhubaneswar, he said the government has taken steps to increase the number of ICU beds and COVID bed facilities.

“In fact, of the total number of COVID beds in the state, only 50 per cent is occupied. But the rate of occupancy has increased in the two cities as the people from other districts want to undergo treatment in the two places. Keeping this in view, the government has formed a cluster of having 3-4 districts. Once there is a saturation of beds in these clusters, the people of these districts will be allowed to undergo treatment in the twin cities,” he added.

Mishra also said in order to promptly respond to the call of the people having mild symptoms, steps are being taken to strengthen the 104 and 1929 call centres.

Among other steps taken by the government, he said the number of ambulance vans has been increased to carry the infected persons to the hospitals, while for the early diagnosis, the number of rapid tests and the Rapid Response Teams (RRTs) in each zone has been substantially increased.

Attributing the alarming rise in the positivity rate in the twin cities to the rapid tests, Mishra said the purpose of the rapid test is to bring down the rate of transmission by identifying more patients and keeping them in isolation. “With the increase in the number of isolation, the rate of transmission will gradually come down,” he pointed out.