Bhubaneswar: Director, Health and Family Welfare, Bijay Panigrahi on Wednesday said that the spike in COVID-19 cases in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack hints at a community transmission-like situation in the twin cities.
“The rate of infection is going up rapidly in these two cities also inhabited by people from outside the state. Since the kith and kin of these people, hailing from the COVID hotspot states, frequently visit them, there is a possibility of them infecting others,” he said.
Bhubaneswar and Cuttack have 5896 and 1930 active cases respectively.
Panigrahi further attributed the rise in cases to the more infectious new strains of COVID-19. “The daily caseload in Odisha have crossed 8000 and we are not sure if the number will rise further or fall tomorrow,” he said.
He emphasized that there are adequate COVID beds in the state. “More number of patients are hospitalized in western Odisha and the beds will be increased appropriately,” he added.
