PM Modi Brackets Odisha With High Incidence States For COVID Stock Taking

New Delhi/Bhubaneswar: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will interact with chief ministers of Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Kerala via video conferencing at 11 am on July 16 to discuss the COVID situation in the states.

Kerala and Maharashtra have been witnessing a rise in infections for the last few days,  which is being seen as a precursor for another wave. In the first 11 days of July, Maharashtra reported 88,130 COVID cases while Kerala saw 1,28,951 new infections.

Though the test positivity rate in Odisha has remained below 4 per cent since July 5, the Centre had earlier raised concern over rising cases in five districts – Balasore, Cuttack, Jagatsinghapur, Kendrapada and Khurda in the week ending July 4 when compared to the previous week. “Balasore, Dhenkanal and Nuapada reported weekly positivity of more than 10 per cent for the week ending July 4,” the letter from Union Health secretary Rajesh Bhusan said. The TPR of the state then stood at 5.36 per cent.

Also Read: Rising Cases In Other States Can Spell Trouble For Odisha As Khurda & Cuttack Remain Red Zone

On Tuesday, Director of Medical Education and Training (DMET) Dr CBK Mohanty said that Khurda and Cuttack and a few other districts, where cases are continuing to rise, are under special focus. “There has been a fall in the infection rate but the problem persists and therefore people should not let their guard down. The infection may increase if people, from states where cases are rising, travel to Odisha. We have been taking every precaution but the government needs to look into this danger and issued SOPs accordingly,” he said.

During his interaction with chief ministers of Northeast states on Tuesday, PM Modi also spoke about the rising cases in India and the need to take strict action to curb the situation at the micro-level.

Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, Sikkim had also reported a jump in daily cases.