High COVID Infection In Odisha’s Twin Cities Causes Concern!

Bhubaneswar: The state government will initiate special measures to further bring down daily COVID caseload and the test positivity rate in the twin cities of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack, said Director Medical Education and Training (DMET) CBK Mohanty on Wednesday.

“The cities have been reporting a high TPR because of their floating population. People from outside travel to these cities frequently,” he explained.

At present, Bhubaneswar and Cuttack have 1103 and 1258 active cases respectively. Bhubaneswar has been reporting over 300 fresh infections almost every day since the beginning of July.

The DMET further said that the pandemic was far from over despite the gradual decline in new infections.

Referring to the test positivity rate (TPR) in the state, he said that the overall TPR in June and July was 6.5 per cent and it has been hovering around 3 per cent for the last few days.

Also Read: Rising Cases In Other States Can Spell Trouble For Odisha As Khurda & Cuttack Remain Red Zone

Mohanty said that the TPR in Cuttack, Bhubaneswar, Balasore and Mayurbhanj is still high.

According to the state dashboard, Khurda and Puri were in the Red Zone with a TPR of 12.4 per cent and 7.6 per cent respectively on Tuesday. Cuttack (6.8 per cent) and Nayagarh (5.5 per cent) are the other two districts to have a TRP of more than 5 per cent. Balasore has a TPR of 4.6 per cent and Mayurbhanj 4 per cent.

Due to the rise in the daily caseloads in Chhattisgarh, the state government is closely monitoring the situation in the bordering districts of Odisha, especially Nuapada, he said, adding that active surveillance and vaccination will continue.

Notably, Odisha is among the five states that have contributed to 73.4 per cent of the country’s total cases in the first two weeks of July.

Also Read: Odisha, 4 Other States Account For 73.4% Of COVID Cases In July