Bhubaneswar: In the wake of the detection of a fresh COVID-19 case in the state after a long gap, the Odisha government on Thursday urged the people not to panic stating that the severity of the new variant is mild.
Health and Family Welfare Secretary Aswathy S advised people not to get panic about sporadic appearance of Covid cases and said that the state government is keeping strict vigil, and closely monitoring the changing conditions.
Stating that government machinery is in all alertness for countering any situation, she said sporadic and singular cases of covid are continuously being detected in various parts of the country since fall down of pandemic’s peak in 2020-21.
Since then, the disease is well controlled and contained in Odisha. Rollout of free vaccines, mass vaccination coupled with continued Government efforts reduced the spread and burden of the disease to a great extent in Odisha.
Noting that sporadic cases are a continuous phenomenon, the Health Secretary said those are managed as per the established protocols as and when they arise.
As per National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and World Health Organisation (WHO) indicators, these sporadic cases are of “mild variety of known pre-existing strains”. They do not cause any grave disease. NCDC or WHO have not issued any new additional advisory with regard to sporadic cases. Health department is in all readiness to deal with the cases as and when they are detected, she added.
It may be noted that a man who recently returned from Delhi has tested positive for COVID-19 in Bhubaneswar. His condition is stated to be stable.
