Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik urges people to be alert amid COVID surge

BHUBANESWAR: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday urged people to remain alert and follow COVID-19 protocols amidst a 45 per cent-plus uptick in the daily caseload.

Stating that COVID-19 scare still persists, the CM appealed all to protect themselves and others from the risk of infection. "Be vigilant, be safe," Naveen said. He also welcomed Centre's decision to provide free precaution doses for the 18-59 year age group and appealed eligible beneficiaries of the State to get vaccinated.

The move from the Centre came a day after Principal Secretary of Health and Family Welfare department NB Dhal said that if needed, the issue of free precaution dose to all adults will be taken up with the Centre.

On the day, the State recorded a 46 per cent jump in its new infection count as 743 persons tested positive in last 24 hours making it the highest single-day spike so far in the fourth wave.  It was also the highest infection count on a day in last five months.

The Health and Family Welfare department said the next few weeks will be crucial and COVID graph in Odisha may plateau by the second week of August. Most of the new cases were reported from Khurda (303) followed by 115 in Cuttack and 36 in Puri. The new cases pushed the daily test positivity rate to 4.02 per cent from 3.48 per cent on the previous day.