Pandemic In Chhattisgarh Cause For Rising COVID-19 Cases In Odisha: ILS Director

Bhubaneswar: The Institute of Life Sciences (ILS), Bhubaneswar on Tuesday attributed the pandemic in neighbouring Chhattisgarh to the alarming rise in COVID-19 cases in Odisha.

“As the people of bordering districts of Odisha frequently visit Chhattisgarh where the daily caseload has gone up to nearly 14,000, COVID-19 cases in these districts have assumed alarming proportions. Apart from this, people returning to Odisha from the COVID hotspot states are also instrumental in the rise of positive cases,” ILS director Ajay Parida told the media here.

Maintaining that Odisha has neither any mutants of Brazil and South Africa nor the mutants that are found in Punjab and Maharashtra, he said the state has a negligible 3-4 per cent of double mutation and that is the mutation of COVID variant of United Kingdom.

“However, more genome sequencing will determine the type of strain responsible for the alarming surge in the positive cases in the state,” he pointed out.

Stating that the three new mutants have triggered the rise in positive cases in the country, Parida advised the people to strictly follow the COVID appropriate behaviour.