Odisha government pulls up high burden districts for lowering COVID-19 tests

The Health and Family Welfare department has directed the districts not to be complacent and scale up testing so that the prevalence could be more accurately ascertained.
For representational purpose. (Photo | PTI)
For representational purpose. (Photo | PTI)

BHUBANESWAR: Faced with mounting criticism over declining COVID-19 tests during the festive season, the State government has pulled up the high virus burden districts for failing to rise up to the situation and meet the target given to them from time to time.

Taking a strong note of dismal performance of Khurda, Cuttack, Puri, Jagatsinghpur, Jajpur, Balasore, Sundargarh, Keonjhar, Nuapada, Sambalpur and Kalahandi, the Health and Family Welfare department has directed the districts not to be complacent and scale up testing so that the prevalence could be more accurately ascertained and containment steps taken accordingly.

"Even as the number of new cases has come down significantly in some districts, there are six to 10 districts which are still reporting more than 100 cases. These districts, however, are not conducting tests as the situation demands. While all districts have been asked to ramp up testing, collectors of Khurda, Cuttack, Puri, Jagatsinghpur, Sambalpur and Keonjhar have once again been directed to ensure that the target is met every day," said a senior official of the Health department.

Though the official did not disclose the targets set for Khurda and Cuttack, he said other districts have been asked to conduct at least 3,000 tests, of which 15 to 20 per cent should be through RT-PCR.

Even as districts like Ganjam, where the infection rate has slowed down, still conduct more than 3,000 tests a day, the range is a meagre 800 to 1,500 in the hotspots of Khurda, Cuttack, Balasore, Jajpur and Nuapada despite the fact that they continue to throw up substantially high number of new cases every day.

The overall daily tests in the State have also come down from an average 50,000 a day to 40,000 in the last one month. "The districts are taking a plea that people are not coming forward for tests. They have been asked to intensify awareness and convince people with symptoms not to avoid tests as it may have serious and even fatal consequences," the official added.

Meanwhile, the State has reported 1,695 new cases in last 24 hours taking the tally to 2,79,582. Five districts have registered nearly 40 per cent cases with Khurda accounting for the highest 183, followed by Balasore (128), Sundargarh (110), Cuttack (103) and Nuapada (92).

Around 40,033 tests were conducted during the period. Fifteen patients, including two each from Bhubaneswar, Mayurbhanj and Sundargarh succumbed to the disease. With this, the death toll rose to 1,282. The number of active cases now stands at 16,269 after recovery of 2,613 patients on Saturday. So far 2,62,031 patients have recovered in the State.

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