BHUBANESWAR: The current growth rate of coronavirus cases in Odisha has thrown up serious
concerns as the number of infection grew 26.2 times this month against the highest growth rate of 4.7 times calculated in May 2020 during the first wave of the pandemic.
This was sharpest ever growth recorded in the state so far. As the infection is spreading rapidly, the high growth signals that more bad days are ahead.
In view of the strong second wave, the state government has decided to ramp up health infrastructure across the state by adding twice the strength of ICU beds, four times HDU beds and sufficient general beds to cater to the needs of patients in coming days.
Additional Chief Secretary of Health department PK Mohapatra said the state will have around 3000 ICU beds and 6000 step-down and intermediate care units, known as high dependency units, soon.
“This apart, the districts have been directed to activate all 43 dedicated Covid hospitals set up last year with sufficient general beds as per the need. Plans are also afoot to remain ready with medical oxygen supply, at least 10 times of the volume used during the peak of the first wave,” he said.
The state government has also decided to procure at least two lakh vials of remdesivir injection and six lakh favipiravir tablets besides 50 lakh face masks and 100 ventilators as soon as possible. The Odisha State Medical Corporation Limited has been tasked to start procurement of the medical essentials.
Meanwhile, Odisha reported 2989 new Covid-19 cases in last 24 hours posting a rise of around 32 per cent (pc) over the previous day’s count of 2267 infections. Two more patients succumbed to the disease during the period taking the cumulative death toll to 1935.
Of the new infections, the biggest single-day spike this year, detected from across all 30 districts, 1,733 were in quarantine and the remaining local infections. While nine districts recorded above 100 cases and six districts over 50 cases, Sundargarh district logged 631 new cases, more than thrice the last year’s peak of around 200 cases.
The number of new infections in Khurda was 438, followed by 260 in Kalahandi, 208 in Cuttack, 151 in Nuapada, 148 in Sambalpur, 126 in Bargarh, 112 in Puri and 110 in Balangir. Ten districts bordering Chhattisgarh registered 1569 cases accounting for 52 per cent (pc) of the daily caseload.
Health department sources said 60 pc of cases were contributed by six districts - Sundargarh (18.3 pc), Khurda (17.2 pc), Nuapada (7.9 pc), Kalahandi (5.7 pc), Sambalpur (5.5 pc) and Bargarh (5.1 pc). With this, the tally rose to 3.58 lakh of which 3.42 lakh have recovered. The active cases stand at 13,784,
including 1340, who are undergoing treatment at Covid hospitals.