COVID-19: Odisha should keep up the good work
From June, the coronavirus graph has been on a steep rise and is still far from achieving its peak in the country. Odisha has been spared the brute expansion of the virus in the community till now thanks to a stringent combat strategy, but of late, the state too is beginning to feel the heat. So, while the Centre announced Unlock 2 on June 29, the Naveen Patnaik administration has understandably adopted caution.
As part of its strategy, 10 districts with high incidence will continue to be under weekend shutdowns whereas the remaining 20, with lesser case loads, are being thrown open except for night curfew. The path between opening up and shutting down is being carefully treaded. There are valid reasons for the government to be wary. When it announced shutdowns on June 6 in 11 districts, the number of Covid-19 cases in the state was 2,781.
By the end of the month, it had climbed to 7,065. Over 65 per cent of the cases came from the districts where the weekend restrictions were imposed. Needless to mention, the state government has chosen to stick to a restricted opening up though the importance of rebooting the economy is not lost sight of. It would be pertinent to remember that Odisha has always kept its nose ahead of the rest when it comes to disaster management. Among the first states to impose a lockdown when the spread began, it decided to swim against the current by announcing a shutdown when much of India was clamouring for opening up, since it anticipated a spike in June.
Now, it is aware that the peak is not coming anytime soon. The Naveen Patnaik administration has gone in for door-to-door surveys and establishment of Covid Care Homes while vesting much of the management in rural areas to panchayati raj institutions, which have handled it with panache. Of the 8.5 lakh migrant workers who returned to the state after the lockdown, its 16,000-odd temporary medical centres—managed by sarpanchs—have housed and already discharged 7.46 lakh of them. However, this is not the time to rest on laurels. Testing, contact tracing and isolation must be ramped up as the numbers are on the rise. The good work of minimising case fatalities and high recovery rates must continue as it is going to be a long haul.