Odisha witnessed the highest single-day spike in COVID-19 cases on April 5 with 18 new people testing positive. Now, the State’s cases have jumped to 39 from April 4’s tally of 21.
The capital city of Bhubaneswar is the hotspot in Odisha as all Sunday’s 18 cases were reported from here. Of the 39 total cases, 32 are from Bhubaneswar.
Moreover, 15 of Sunday’s cases belonged to Bomikhal area which has been sealed. Earlier, three siblings had tested positive. The government had said that the siblings’ father, who lived in Bhopal, had also tested positive.
“About 15 of the new cases detected today belong to Bomikhal which has been sealed. Cluster containment has been put in place and house to house survey is going on. All suspects and contacts will be isolated and tested. Citizens are urged not to panic and to stay indoors,” said Health and Family Welfare (H&FW) Department.
The new cases were detected following door-to-door surveillance in Bomikhal area.
“People need not panic. It is in a contained area of Bhubaneswar with known contact. Sincere appeal - please don’t venture out and respect lockdown. Police will take very tough action against violators,”said Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
“There will be zero tolerance against violation of social distancing. Any violation of social distancing will attract criminal action. The concerned shop and market will be sealed. Earnest request to cooperate in our fight against coronavirus,” Mr. Patnaik warned.
Following the big surge in cases, the H&FW department also urged, “during these challenging times we request people to remain calm. All possible contacts of the COVID positive cases shall be traced, isolated and tested. That is the only way to contain further transmission. Every citizen can break the chain by staying indoors.”
“During the lockdown period, we need to contain these areas by a well-planned and executed containment strategy so that not only the infection is contained within a limited area, but the probability of its spread is greatly reduced,” said Chief Secretary Asit Tripathy addressing a press conference earlier in the day.
Focus on hotspots
From now on, the State government will continue to focus on hotspots. “In various areas, containment zones will be established as required to be decided by municipal and district administration who have power under Disaster Management Act, 2005,” said Mr. Tripathy.
Of the total 39 cases, two persons have recovered and have been discharged from hospital. Apart from 32 cases in Bhubaneswar, three are from Bhadrak while Puri, Cuttack, Kalahandi and Jajpur have reported one case each.
Health Secretary Nikunja Bihari Dhal has asked the municipal commissioners, and Collectors to provide triple layer surgical masks to persons under quarantine at home and in facilities.