BHUBANESWAR: Amid spike in Covid-19 cases, Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Tuesday sealed the DCP office at Vani Vihar here for two days following detection of multiple confirmed infections among its personnel.
A cluster outbreak of Covid cases was also reported from the National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER) at Jatni after 31 students under isolation tested positive for the virus.
A team of BMC led by South East Zonal Deputy Commissioner Mahendra Badhai sealed the DCP Office till January 5 to prevent further spread of the infection. Badhai said of the 20 samples tested for Covid in the office, four tested positive. All the infected staff were asked to remain in home isolation, while a complaint box was placed near the main gate of the office for citizens to drop complaints during the period.”The DCP office authorities have been asked to contact us in case any of the patients need medical attention or any other staff is found with Covid symptoms,” he said.
On the other hand, 31 students tested positive for the virus at NISER while undergoing isolation on the institute campus. Most of them are believed to be from outside Odisha. An official from the institute said the infected were among the batch of students who were in isolation for seven days ahead of their practical classes. The condition of all infected students is stable.
Meanwhile, the Covid vaccination crossed three lakh doses on Tuesday as 1.83 lakh teens got their first shot on the second day of the Phase IV drive. Around 3,26,269 beneficiaries, including 1,83,763 teenagers, were administered vaccines. Only Covaxin was given to the younger population.
64 pc jump in Capital’s daily count
The State Capital on Tuesday recorded a 64 per cent jump in the daily Covid count over the previous day. Officials of Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) said 142 new cases were reported in the city in the last 24 hours compared to 91 a day before. The fresh Covid cases are the highest so far in the last two months. The previous highest 159 cases had been reported in the city on November 4 last year. The surge in cases and blatant violation of Covid appropriate behaviour has sparked apprehension of further spike in the daily infection count. BMC officials said enforcement measures will be strengthened as per need to prevent transmission in the city.