Odisha Fights COVID-19: Chief Secy Thanks Bhubaneswar For Excellent Response To Mass-Testing Drive

Bhubaneswar: Chief Secretary Asit Kumar Tripathy on Sunday thanked people of Bhubaneswar for their excellent response to the Odisha government’s call to test for coronavirus.

Tripathy informed that more than 2500 samples have been collected in three days from people who participated in mass COVID-19 testing under the initiative, Bhubaneswar Strategy.

Tripathy had on Friday unveiled the ‘Bhubaneswar Strategy’ to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic during lockdown 2.0, stating that 5000 samples will be tested in the city in seven days.

The Odisha capital is among 170 identified hotspots in the country. Forty-six of the total 61 positive cases in Odisha, have been reported from the city.

A priority-basis methodology for COVID-19 testing has been devised by the state Health Department as follows:

Priority 1: people with travel history, SARI patients, health workers in COVID-19 hotspots and people in densely populated localities (slums)

Priority 2: Police, sanitation, COVID workers

Priority 3: People above 60 with co-morbidity

Priority 4: Random population