Odisha reports Covid cases in double digits after 4 months

BHUBANESWAR: Odisha reported Covid cases in double digits for the second day in a row after a gap of four months. The state added 11 new cases each on Thursday and Friday. Total active cases rose to 40.
During the last four months, the state was reporting in single digits. Even sometimes it was reporting zero cases. Health department official sources said this is not a major issue as they have tested 4,495 new samples to get these new Covid cases.
After reporting of H3N2 cases in Odisha and other states, the state government has been creating awareness among people to go for Covid-19 testing first if they get flu-like symptoms. Because of this drive, people with flu symptoms come for Covid testing. The new cases are the result of this testing drive, said an official.
The state had reported 11 cases on Thursday too. While six patients recovered on Thursday, three others recovered on Friday. The first Covid case was reported in the state on March 16, 2020. Within three years, people have witnessed the first, second and third waves of Covid-19 pandemic.
Sanghamitra Pati, director of ICMR-regional medical research centre (RMRC) Bhubaneswar, said people should follow respiratory etiquettes. If they get any flu-like symptoms, they should go for testing and self-isolate themselves if they get Covid-19 or H3N2 virus, she added.
She said 61 H3N2 cases have been reported from Odisha this year. “We have reported a flu case on Friday while testing the samples. H3N2 cases have decreased in March,” she added.
So far, Odisha has reported 13.36 lakh cases from 3.46 crore samples and 9,205 Covid deaths. On November 19 last year, the state government repealed the ‘Odisha Covid-19 Regulations, 2020’ that had imposed restrictions and penalties on gatherings, spitting and not following facemask rules.