Returnees add to state Covid count with 65 more testing +ve

Bhubaneswar: People returning from other states continue to add to the state’s Covid headache as 65 tested positive on Saturday, taking the total number of cases to 737. Of the 65, barring one, all are migrant returnees. West Bengal accounted for 35 cases and 28 were those who returned from Gujarat.
A health department statement said 62 of those testing positive are returnees staying in quarantine centres while three are in home isolation.
Government authorities said 30 of those testing positive in Jajpur were from West Bengal, besides in Puri and one in Khurda. This apart, a Jharkhand returnee also tested positive in Jajpur, taking its day’s count to 31.
Among the 28 Gujarat returnees, 13 tested positive in Ganjam, six in Cuttack, four in Kendrapada, two each in Mayurbhanj and Nayagarh besides one in Khurda. Another person in Khurda is a close contact of a West Bengal returnee. With this, the number of positive cases in Ganjam went up to 277 while those in Jajpur touched 122. The number of positive cases in Balasore also crossed 100 and is now 102.
Additional chief secretary (health) Pradipta Kumar Mohapatra said keeping in view the impending cyclone, the health department has asked the district collectors of Balasore, Bhadrak, Kendrapada and Jagatsinghpur to relocate temporary medical centres within 3 km from the seashore to safer places.
“Special medical teams have been constituted to oversee the situation in these districts. Covid test of people in quarantine centres in these areas are being done on priority so that those testing negative can be moved to home quarantine,” Mohapatra said.
He also said that the government is taking steps to ensure adequate stock of fuel, generator, medicines, anti-venom injections and bleaching powder in these districts.
As many as 17,855 more Odisha natives returned to the state on Saturday, increasing the number of returnees to 1,33,245. Among them, 55,567 returned to Ganjam while 11,368 returned to Balasore and 8198 to Cuttack.
“The health condition of migrants are being checked on a daily basis in the quarantine centres. Those showing symptoms are being shifted to Covid care centres,” Mohapatra added. Currently, 718 people are in hospital isolation.
EoM