Odisha reports 4 positive cases for novel coronavirus in highest jump in one day

TNN | Updated: Apr 4, 2020, 09:26 IST

BHUBANESWAR: Four persons, including one who attended the Tablighi Jamaat religious congregation in New Delhi as well as three brothers, tested positive for novel coronavirus in Odisha on Friday. This is the highest number of positive cases that the state has witnessed in a single day since it reported the first case on March 15.
This raises the total number of Covid-19 positive cases in the state to nine, including seven from the state capital Bhubaneswar. The other two are from Cuttack and Bhadrak, leading to the state government to completely shut down all three cities for 48 hours, starting 8pm on Friday.
Subroto Bagchi, the government’s chief spokesperson on Covid-19, said a man from Cuttack with recent travel history to Nizamuddin Markaz has tested positive for the virus. Health department authorities said the 30-year-old native of Pension Lane in Buxibazaar area of Cuttack has been admitted to SCB Medical College and Hospital, Cuttack. The three brothers are from Bomikhal area of Bhubaneswar. They, too, have been shifted to SCB Medical College and Hospital. All four are said to be from the minority community.
Government sources said the four who tested positive on Friday were asymptomatic. More than 100 people who came in contact with them have been quarantined.
Bagchi said the government has so far traced 67 people -- seven foreign nationals currently in Odisha and 62 from the state – who attended the Tablighi Jamaat.
“Forty Odisha natives who had attended the Tablighi Jamaat have not returned to the state. They are in Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal,” Bagchi said.
These apart, 10 people from West Bengal, who had attended the event in New Delhi, had visited Talcher area of Angul district after attending the Jamaat recently. “Locals who had come in their contact have been quarantined,” Bagchi added. The Angul district administration has quarantined 31 people in this connection.
From among 27 people who returned from the Nizamuddin event, 21 have tested negative for COVID-19 while reports of 5 more are yet to come, the spokesperson said.
Fearing community transmission in the wake of fresh cases, the government changed the Covid-19 regulations making it mandatory for all to report flu-like symptoms to the 104 Helpline with their personal details and health conditions. It will be the duty and responsibility of people to report flu symptoms to the government, the health department stated. “All persons with flu-like symptoms are urged to call the health helpline 104 and report about their personal particulars and health condition,” the health department asked people in a tweet.
According to the revised regulations, doctors and healthcare professionals attending to Covid-19 patients will not attend to any other person and stay away from hospital staff attending to non-virus patients. All medical officers and other healthcare personnel engaged in screening suspected Covid-19 patients will be given protective gear.