Jajpur: Amid diarrhoea spread and detection of cholera cases in Odisha’s Jajpur, the district administration has cancelled leaves of all government officials during the three-day Raja festival beginning Saturday.
Sources said that leaves of all officers have been cancelled from June 14 to 16 in view of the diarrhoea outbreak in different parts of the district in the last few days.
Jajpur collector P Anvesha Reddy said in a communication that all offices in the district will remain open as usual and services of employees will be utilised in case of exigency.
“No leaves are allowed on these three days without prior permission of the undersigned (collector and district magistrate). Leaves allowed earlier stand cancelled,” the letter issued on Friday by the collector said.
Meanwhile, the toll in diarrhoea outbreak in the district touched eleven as per unofficial information. Jajpur’s Chief District Medical and Public Health Officer, Prakash Chandra Bal, confirmed seven deaths due to diarrhoea. “Six deaths were reported in hospitals in Jajpur and one in Bhubaneswar. We are inquiring into three other deaths reported from hospitals outside the district,” he told the media.
Public Health Director Dr Nilakantha Mishra informed a high-level meeting held in Bhubaneswar on Friday that eight cholera cases have also been detected after test of samples collected from the district.
More than 750 people across the district have been affected by diarrhoea in the last four days. Among them, nearly 300 patients are undergoing treatment at different hospitals in the district. At least 450 patients have been discharged after treatment.
Officials said the diarrhoea situation is improving as patient inflow in hospitals has decreased. Over 450 patients have returned home after treatment in the last three days. Around 20 new patients were admitted to different hospitals on Friday.
Around 30 critical patients are undergoing treatment at SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack. The administration is hopeful that the situation will come under control within next three to four days, he added.
Food safety officials are actively engaged to identify the source of the contamination. The officials have been directed to disinfect water bodies in the 10 blocks and two local urban bodies of the district on a war-footing.
