No Possibility Of Second COVID Wave In Odisha, Says Govt Adviser Jayant Panda

Cuttack: Going by the gradual fall in the COVID-19 positive cases in Odisha, there is no possibility of a second wave of the disease in the state, said Dr Jayant Panda, the technical adviser to the state Health department, on Saturday.

Speaking to mediapersons on the sideline of the inauguration of an interactive and dynamic website of SCB Medical College & Hospital and the portal of SCB Alumni Association (SCBIANS) by the Chief Minister through video conferencing, Panda said the daily COVID-19 positive cases in the state have come down from 4900 to about 400 while the number of fatalities has come down from 17 to 4. “This shows that the efforts of the state government to flatten the corona graph in the last eight months have been successful with meticulous testing, training, treatment and the procedure.

Ruling out the possibility of a second COVID wave in Odisha, Panda said the people have become aware of the disease.

“The people stayed indoors during the Kartik Purnima and refrained from participating in the Boita Bandana. They also celebrated Diwali without bursting the firecrackers. Apart from this, the Durga Puja was held with strict COVID-19 guidelines. Going by the awareness shown by the people, we hope that there will be no possibility of a second COVID wave in the state,” he added.

He, however, said that the people will have to maintain all precautions till February next year.