Worry for Odisha as corona cases stay above 1,500

BHUBANESWAR: The state government has failed to bring down the number of Covid positive cases to around 1,000 daily by July-end, though it had earlier projected to do so by July 15.
On Friday, the state reported 1,558 new Covid cases from 75,868 samples tested, registering a TPR of 2%. Two weeks ago, the state reported 2,070 cases with 2.86% TPR.
Though there is a decline in the number of cases, experts have been reiterating that the slow pace of fall can make the virus more virulent as there will be more mutant strains.
The slow pace of decline has been mostly observed in Cuttack and Khurda districts, while cases in the capital are on the rise in Bhubaneswar.
There has been an increase of 1,000 cases in active case count though 72% people are completely vaccinated and five months of the second wave. On Friday, the capital reported 389 new cases against 232 recoveries. Its active cases rose to 2,311 with toll reaching 797. In two days, it has added 742 new infections, thus showing no sign of improvement.
“The number of infections in Bhubaneswar is on the rise with active cases crossing 2,000. It is a big concern. Unless strict measures are immediately taken, things may spiral out of control,” said Ajay Parida, director, Institute of Life Sciences.
Experts also feel apprehensive that the infection may even get slower with detection of new cases in August as the government would announce opening up of many facilities that are fully or partially closed.
The daily reporting of new infection has also proved the IIT, Kanpur findings wrong as it projected that Odisha would see cases down to about 739 daily by July 15.
The government on Friday confirmed 66 more Covid deaths taking the toll to 5,834 with hotspot Khurda’s total fatalities reaching 1,138. Khurda reported 479 new cases while Cuttack added 241 new infections. All other districts reported cases in double digits.