‘Hidden Cases’ Triggering COVID Spread In Odisha: Health Dept

Bhubaneswar: The Health Department has blamed “hidden cases” for the spread of COVID-19 in Odisha.

“Some people with COVID-19 symptoms are not willing to undergo tests. Instead, they buy medicines for cough, cold and fever. The state government has directed the medicine shop owners to provide the data of such people. But they are not providing the data. As the contact tracing of these people cannot be done, there will be hidden cases,” Director of Health Services Bijay Mohapatra told the media on Sunday.

Mohapatra said the number of hidden cases in the state may increase with the possible onset of the third wave.

Given this scenario, door-to-door surveillance can effectively detect the hidden cases, he said. “In fact, more than one lakh COVID patients were identified in Odisha due to door-to-door surveillance by ASHA workers,” he added.

Mohapatra informed that the state government is specially focusing on Cuttack and Bhubaneswar as well as the towns of Balasore and Baripada where the COVID caseloads are much higher than other urban areas in Odisha.

He also said as dengue spreads during monsoon, there will be integrated disease surveillance for the vector-borne disease and COVID-19 in the state till August 24. However, the active surveillance on COVID will continue as before.