COVID Peak Already Over In Odisha, Says Govt

Bhubaneswar: In heartening news, the COVID-19 peak in Odisha is already over with the number of daily cases decreasing gradually, the Director of Health Services, Bijay Mohapatra, said.

Mohapatra further said the situation is expected to come under control during the second week of this month.

As a result of the declining trend, around 61 per cent of general hospital beds for COVID patients in Odisha are lying vacant at present, he informed.

“The general bed utilisation is around 39% while beds having oxygen and ventilator facilities are around 60 % in the case of COVID patients,” the official told the media here.

Vaccination Policy

Mohapatra said the state government can’t relax the norms on vaccination for 45+ people as the Centre is providing vaccine doses for that age group only.\

As for the 18-44 age group, he said, “The state government has announced free vaccination for this group. Arrangements are being made for the availability of vaccines. Once we get the vaccines, we will launch the mass vaccination programme.”