Dozens of slums in different urban clusters of Odisha have been found to be in the grip of the COVID-19 pandemic prompting the administrations to step up efforts to break the chain of transmission.
A day after 65 persons were found infected with virus in two slums, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation on Saturday assured people not to panic.
On Monday, 45 persons had tested positive for the virus in the Mahishakhal slum near BJB Nagar area while 20 cases were detected in the Sitapur slum in Nayapalli areas.
Tagged as local cases
Though 49 of the 111 cases (about 44%) in Bhubaneswar city were tagged as local cases and many of these pertained to slums, the administration said an action plan was put in place to tackle the crisis.
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As of now, 1,828 cases have been reported from Bhubaneswar. After recovery of 863 patients, the active cases stood at 952.
“Active surveillance is being carried out in slums. Four slums have been declared as containment zone,” said Women and Child Development Secretary Anu Garg, who is observer for Bhubaneswar.
Ms. Garg said active surveillance was being done in slums to know symptoms and presence of outsiders as per the slum strategy of the BMC.
Social distancing enforcement
After detection of 43 positive cases in Penthakata — largest slum of fishermen community in Puri town, a worried district administration has started efforts to enforce social distancing. Four wards, where 5,000 families live, have been declared containment zone.
The Puri district administration is conducting drone surveillance of Penthakata to identify violation of social distancing and containment restriction measures. The Balangir administration has, however, brought the situation under control at the Laxmijor Khandi slum where 61 positive cases were detected since June 30.