The total number of COVID-19 cases in Odisha climbed to 142 on Thursday. The State saw the largest spike with 20 cases – 17 from Jajpur and three from Balasore district – reported during the past 24 hours, according to officials.
All the new cases reported from Jajpur were of those who returned from West Bengal and their close contacts, the State Health & Family Welfare Department said. The districts of Balasore, Bhadrak and Balasore that are close to West Bengal have reported 74 cases so far, and most of them are of those who had managed to return during the ongoing lockdown and their close contacts.
The previous 24-hour spike with 18 cases was reported in Bhubaneswar on April 5. The city had reported 46 cases till a fortnight ago, and its total increased to 47 when family member of a COVID-19 case was found positive on Wednesday. Of the total 142 cases in the State so far, 102 are under treatment at different COVID hospitals, while 39 had recovered and one had died, according to the health department.
Meanwhile, State government’s chief spokesperson for COVID-19 Subroto Bagchi and Secretary of Information & Public Relations S. K. Singh appealed to the sarpanchs of all gram panchayats in the State to stay vigilant and ensure quarantine of those returning from West Bengal as well as other States.
Asking people not to panic over increase in number of cases, they cautioned that any negligence on the part of the Panchayati Raj representatives as well as the returnees could aggravate the situation and put the public in danger.
Informing about the possibility of five lakh Odia people returning to the State in the coming weeks, Mr. Bagchi said that Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik was in touch his counterparts in other States to see what measures could be taken to facilitate the return of natives stranded at far off places.