Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government on Thursday said that 70 per cent COVID-19 cases reported in the state are asymptomatic.
Addressing a press briefing, Additional Chief Secretary of Health Department PK Mohapatra stressed home isolation of asymptomatic patients both in rural and urban areas. “This will reduce the pressure on dedicated hospitals. If symptoms develop, cases will be shifted to hospitals,” he said.
Partial modifying its previous order, the government has allowed all COVID-19 positive cases, who are asymptomatic/have mild symptoms and have no co-morbidlties in rural areas across the state, to go for home isolation.
About the increasing corona positive cases in Odisha, Mohapatra said that there was nothing to be worried about it and attributed the rise to door-to-door screening. “We are literally chasing the virus from house to house, identifying people with symptoms and isolating them for tests,” he said.
The Odisha government is striving to ensure that no potential case goes undetected, he added.
“I would like to urge everyone not to hide symptoms and come forward for testing. The government is bearing the end-to-end cost of COVID-19 test,” he said.
He further informed COVID-19 recovery rate in Odisha is 65 per cent and the fatality rate is 0.54 per cent, which is much lower than the national average of 2.5 per cent.
The government will also roll out vehicles with medicines to address mental health issues among people and it is in addition to the ongoing telemedicine service.
Mohapatra said that COVID-19 tests are currently being done in 19 labs and testing will begin at six more places in the next 10 days. “We have adequate antigen kits approved by ICMR and more than 3000 such tests were conducted today at district hospitals, sub-divisional hospitals and even community health centres,” he said.
He said that collectors have been asked to make six-month vision document to ensure proper treatment for COVID-19 patients and COVID hospitals and care centres have been set up in every district of Odisha. “Elderly people and pregnant COVID-19 patients have recovered from the diseases in the state,” he said, referring to 85-year-old cancer patient Sunrendra Pati, who had contacted the virus.
