Gajapati sees 56 new cases

Berhampur: Gajapati reported 56 fresh cases on Tuesday, taking the total number of infected persons to 518 in the district.
The district has, so far, reported one fatality. Among the infected persons, nine are close contacts, 22 are frontline workers and 25 are locals, who were detected during active surveillance.
Paralakhemundi reported 16 cases. “All positive persons have been shifted to the Covid hospital at B Sitapur.They all are stable. We are trying to trace the close contacts,” Gajapati collector Anupam Saha said.
Gajapati is one of the seven districts in the state where the active cases are more than 100. The district has 155 active cases, while 362 patients have recovered.
Binod Patro, additional professor of community medicine at AIIMS Bhubaneswar, said the remote Gajapati district remains vulnerable because of its proximity to the worst-affected Ganjam on one side and Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh on the other. “After inter-state movement was allowed in June, the spurt in cases was not unexpected,” he said.
In the wake of return of migrants in May, there was a surge in Covid cases in the district, while in June, most of the positive patients were either the returnees placed under home quarantine or close contacts of the earlier detected patients. In the last few days, many health workers have contracted the virus.
The collector said a special health screening drive would be launched in the district, including Paralakhemundi town, to detect symptomatic persons. “There is no need to panic as we have taken strict containment measures to stop the spread of the virus. We have made 21-day institutional quarantine mandatory for the returnees. We are conducting awareness camps and urging people to use masks and maintain social distancing,” Saha added.