BHUBANESWAR: As Odisha recorded its highest single-day fatalities due to Covid-19 despite declining new infections, the Centre has asked the State government to go for effective clinical management.
The Centre has also flagged three districts of the State of recording high positivity rate (TPR) and suggested measures to prevent further spread of the pandemic. Citing that Balasore, Dhenkanal and Nuapada reported a TPR of more than 10 per cent (pc) during the June 28 to July 4 period, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhusan has advised to continuously monitor case trajectory in each district to identify any early warning signals of the spread of infection.
In a letter to Chief Secretary Suresh Chandra Mahapatra, Bhusan has stressed that clinical management protocol needs to be followed effectively and promptly in case of rising fatalities. “All facilities also should be monitored with respect to overall fatality, including deaths being reported within 24, 48 and 72 hours of hospitalisation to identify any weak spots and undertake required corrective action,” he stated.
Although the cases have shown a continuous decline since the last four weeks, five districts - Balasore, Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara and Khurda - have shown a rising trend in the week ending July 4 as compared to the previous week.
Bhusan also stressed ramping up testing and maintaining a high proportion of RT-PCR tests as a high positivity rate in several districts reflects the level of widespread infection. “A microanalysis of the areas showing high positivity needs to be done and the aim should be at maintaining a TPR of below five pc in each district by focusing on increasing the number of tests so as to aid early identification,” he said.
He has suggested healthcare infrastructure planning and ensuring timely disclosure of all infrastructure availability details on public portals or in media so as to avoid misinformation. The State announced 59 Covid deaths and 2,602 fresh cases taking the tally to 9,29,788 and the death toll to 4,358. The recoveries crossed the nine lakh milestone after 2,920 patients recovered on Wednesday.