BHUBANESWAR: Odisha on Saturday touched the 100 Covid-19 case mark with six more persons testing positive. All the new cases have been reported from Jajpur district, the new hotspot of the State.
While the number of cases in Jajpur rose to 18, north Odisha region continued to report cases for the seventh consecutive day with returnees from West Bengal contributing majorly to the surge. The three northern districts have recorded 44 cases, including 16 from Bhadrak and 10 from Balasore.
Meanwhile, five of the 10 districts, which had reported cases, have become free of active cases after one patient from Sundargarh recovered. The districts with no active case are Kalahandi, Sundargarh, Cuttack, Puri and Dhenkanal. Following recovery of 33 persons, Odisha now has 65 active cases. “The active cases spread across five districts are stable and are expected to recover well,” said a health official.
The State Government has imposed a 60-hour shutdown in the three northern Odisha districts, ending 10 am on Sunday, to intensify contact tracing of previous cases and enforce required containment measures. However, officials continue to find it hard to get people, who have returned from Bengal, quarantined and tested. “Despite widespread awareness campaigns and repeated requests from the administration, some returnees have been found hiding and unwilling for tests.
We had to counsel them with the help of panchayat representatives and managed to collect 425 samples as of now,” said an official at Basudevpur in Bhadrak district.While Basudevpur block has recorded seven cases, all returnees from Bengal, four other blocks and Bhadrak municipality account for the rest nine cases. Balasore district administration has extended the containment period for seven more days in Neliabag area as contact tracing process has not been completed. As per a fresh notification issued by the district administration, Neliabag will remain a containment zone till the midnight of May 2. Eight persons, all close contacts of a previous case, have tested positive in the area so far.