COVID Review: Focus On 6 Odisha Districts, Vaccination

Bhubaneswar: With the ongoing lockdown ending in another 30 hours, speculation is rife about Odisha easing the curbs and putting the pressure off livelihood sources.

While chairing a review meeting on Tuesday, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik warned against letting the guard down amid the possibility of a third wave.

He said that the focus should be on districts with a higher test positivity rate (TPR) and on ramping up vaccination. “We are vaccinating more than 3 lakh people a day. The collectors should supervise the drive in their respective districts personally,” he said.

The CM further directed the official to intensify the door-to-door survey and said that doctors should be prepared to handle cases related to children as the third wave is likely to impact the young. “Wear masks, maintain social distance and avoid crowded places,” he added.

Chief Secretary Suresh Mohapatra said the COVID situation has not worsened in the 17 districts, where unlock process has started. “We are closely monitoring the situation in coastal and northern districts with special focus on Puri, Cuttack, Balasore and Mayurbhanj,” he said.

While extending the lockdown on June 17, the government had tagged 17 southern and western districts where the positivity rate is 5 per cent or less under Category A and 13 coastal and interior districts having a high positivity rate under Category B.

Shops were allowed to remain open from 6 am to 5 pm in Sundargarh, Jharsuguda, Bargarh, Sambalpur, Deogarh, Kalahandi, Balangir, Nuapada, Sonepur, Ganjam, Gajapati, Kandhamal, Boudh, Koraput, Nabarangpur, Malkangiri and Rayagada.

Additional Chief Secretary, Health, PK Mohapatra said Ganjam and Jharsuguda have a TPR of less than 1 per cent while in Puri and Khurda, it is 9 to 15 per cent. “We are focussing on enforcement and micro-containment zones. The situation will further improve by July 15,” he added.

Also Read: Odisha Likely To Unlock Further From July 1

Balasore and Malkangiri have been tagged in the RED zone with a TPR of 13.5 per cent and 7.5 per cent respectively. Except for Khurda, Cuttack, Nayagarh, Jagatsinghpur, Puri, Dhenkanal, Mayurbhanj and Bhadrak, which are in the ORANGE zone, the rest 20 districts are in the GREEN zone with a TPR of less than 5 per cent.

In active cases, Khurda (5239), Cuttack (3921), Balasore (2988) and Jajpur (2692) are in the RED zone. As many as 21 districts are in GREEN ZONE with less than 1000 active cases and the rest in the ORANGE zone.