Bhubaneswar: Ganjam district, which was the first COVID-19 hotspot in the state when the pandemic took roots, has witnessed a major turnaround in positivity rate of late. The daily positivity rate in the district is now less than 2% from 14.89% in the beginning of the month.
The district reported its first positive case soon after the first batch of migrants returned to it from hotspot states such as Gujarat, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu in May. As the number of returning migrants increased to four lakh, the COVID-19 positive cases rose steadily from 59 on May 7 to 1,000 by June 22. It crossed 10,000 by July-end.
After remaining at the top of the list of positive cases in the state for several weeks, the downward trend started and today, it is in the fourth position with 216 cases while Khurda has emerged the topper with 684 cases. The daily positivity rate in Ganjam as on August 28 was 1.74%.
The officials attribute the turnaround in Ganjam to multi-pronged strategy of increased testing, extensive contact tracing, testing of close contacts and second round screening of recovered patients. The district has three Covid hospitals with 588 beds, nine Covid Care Centres with 3,744 beds and 98 ICU beds.
Siddharth Swain, Project Director, District Rural Development Authority and nodal officer for COVID management in the district, said the testing of contacts had made the difference. “Houses in Ganjam are usually located quite close to each other, sharing the same wall, which increases the chances of transmission if the infection is undetected,” The Indian Express quoted him as saying.
Besides the households, the commercial establishments were encouraged to get their staff tested, said district collector Vijay Kulange adding that the antigen testing was also ramped up.
According to COVID observer for Ganjam G Mathivathanan, there were some errors for the surge that overwhelmed the district initially, including home quarantine for those coming from outside. As the home quarantine norms were flouted, it compounded the problem to an extent.
As the return migrantion came down, the officials focused on disease management. A major local-level intervention was keeping a private ambulance with a trained health worker in each panchayat, besides the 108 call service for ambulances. “We hired private vehicles, equipped those with oxygen cylinders and deployed those in panchayats. In red zones the ambulances were provided for clusters,” the TIE quoted Mathivathanan.
Besides, counselling of patients in the first three days after they test positive was stepped up. There is a team of around 50 counsellors who are available round the clock. Each one makes around 100 calls a day, an official said.
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