BHUBANESWAR: As the second wave of coronavirus sweeps the state, Khurda district has re-emerged as a Covid hotspot, leaving behind Sundargarh, which for the past few days had been taking the top spot in terms of daily infection count.
Khurda on Tuesday reported 105 cases while the state’s new infections stood at 588. Khurda’s Covid surge, according to health experts, can be attributed to the same reasons as the first wave of cases. Since the state capital is located under Khurda, the district bears the load of critical patients being referred here.
Secondly, Khurda is a healthcare hub as well as the nerve centre of train, bus and air transport. Since there is no restriction in the movement of people and goods, the cases in Khurda are rising. On Monday, the district reported 96 cases.
The cases were being reported in clusters (educational institutions and hostels). Now, the virus has spread to localities. The city officials said complacency of the people after the restrictions were lifted has resulted in more samples returning positive. Secondly, many patients from outside are getting admitted here.
The BMC said micro cluster containment is being adopted and strict enforcement is being carried out.
The western district of Sundargarh continues to report a high number of cases with 84 infected on Tuesday. It is among the 10 districts where night curfew has been imposed since Monday. Nine of the 10 curfew-hit districts have together reported 285 cases on Tuesday, with Sundargarh taking the top spot and Kalahandi coming second (64 cases).