Daily record spike of 241 Covid positive cases in Sambalpur

SAMBALPUR: Sambalpur district on Monday reported the highest single day spike of 241 positive cases since the pandemic broke out last year.As many as 1,699 positive cases have been detected in the district in April so far. Sambalpur reported the first case on May 17 last year. The previous daily record spike in the district was 182 reported on August 27, 2020. 

With the new Covid cases, the tally in the district rose to 11,968 of which 10,480 have already recovered. Sambalpur now has 1,408 active cases. The Covid death toll stands at 80.  District Collector Subham Saxena said, “Since many people are under home isolation, we have decided to increase the number of rapid response teams (RRTs) in Sambalpur Municipal Corporation (SMC) area. The aim is to provide better health facilities and medicines at the doorsteps of patients under isolation. A call centre has also been set up to monitor the health condition of people under home isolation.”

Official sources said more than 40 temporary medical centres (TMCs) including nine in SMC area have been readied in the district.  Besides, Covid care centres are open in Rairakhol, Kuchinda and Burla. A screening-cum-reporting centre has also started functioning in the district from Monday.

Meanwhile, the premises of Sambalpur District Bar Association has been closed for 15 days in view of the prevailing Covid crisis. President of the association Pramod Rath said, “Considering the alarming situation in the district, we have decided to close down the bar premises for 15 days. However, members having urgent work can come to the bar at their own risk. The court has been informed that lawyers will not cross-examine witnesses if they do not produce RT-PCR negative report of the same day.”