Coronavirus: Next three months crucial, Odisha govt alerts people

The infections that had come down from a range of 600 a week back to 407 on October 3 rose again due to mindless congregations ahead of the festivities.
Students attending class at Capital Girls’ High School in Bhubaneswar on Monday.
Students attending class at Capital Girls’ High School in Bhubaneswar on Monday.

BHUBANESWAR: With new cases rising steadily in different parts of Odisha ahead of winter, the State government has warned people to remain cautious and watchful for next three months to prevent the third wave of the pandemic.A day after the Centre alerted states on festive rush, the Health and Family Welfare department has asked all districts to keep a tab on market areas, large congregations and celebrations to prevent crowding.

Director of Health Services Dr Bijay Mohapatra said the three festive months - October, November and December - are crucial as there are chances of the virus outbreak due to congregations and winter conditions. “People should adhere to Covid appropriate behaviour and avoid crowded places, unnecessary travel and visit to crowded tourist destinations during the period. The cases will increase further if people do not stay vigilant,” he said.

The rate of infection in the Capital city, Dr Mohapatra said, has always been a cause for concern. Even as most of the people here are fully vaccinated, more than 200 cases are being detected in the city daily. It is only because there is no adherence to Covid norms and slack enforcement, he said.The Health Director said authorities of civic bodies witnessing uncontrolled crowds have been directed to deploy more security personnel for crowd control and social distancing besides mask enforcement.   

Odisha reported 524 new Covid cases, including 75 children and adolescents, and four fatalities taking the tally to 10,30,518 and death toll to 8,238. The infections that had come down from a range of 600 a week back to 407 on October 3 rose again due to mindless congregations ahead of the festivities.Though there has been significant improvement in the pandemic situation across the State, two coastal districts - Khurda and Cuttack - continued to remain as areas of concern as they accounted for 62 per cent of the State’s daily caseload. 

Khurda recorded 250 cases, including 233 from Bhubaneswar and Cuttack registered 75 cases. Six districts did not report a single new case. Boudh does not have any active case making it the first district to become Covid free.As many as 66,724 tests - 30 pc of them being RTPCR tests - were conducted in last 24 hours and the test positivity rate was less than one pc. The State has 4,513 active cases.

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