BHUBANESWAR: On this day, March 15, last year the novel coronavirus made its entry into Odisha. A 31-year-old researcher who returned from Italy was diagnosed with the infection in the city. A year after, as several states are witnessing a resurgence of cases, Odisha is among the few states that appear to have been successful in tackling the pandemic. From the first case to the highest single day spike of 4,356 cases on September 25 and then the drop in numbers to 66 infections on Sunday, the State has seen a significant fall of daily case count with a turnaround story to tell.
Odisha was among a few states where the coronavirus cases initially spiked after the arrival of Tablighi Jamaat members. As Bhubaneswar emerged a hotspot, containment zones were declared and the city administration moved aggressively through intensive testing and isolation.Then the returnee migrants from West Bengal led to Covid clusters in Balasore, Bhadrak and Jajpur prompting the State government to seal the border and announce a 60-hour complete shutdown in these districts to control the spread of the virus.
As migrants started returning to the State, the daily count rose rapidly to 672 on May 15 from 157 on May 1. Ganjam district became the new epicentre of the outbreak as Covid cases soared with the number of migrant returnees. Over 8.5 lakh migrants had returned from more than 13 states, leading to nearly three lakh cases by end of October.
As the tally hovers around 3.38 lakh cases, over 3.35 lakh patients have already recovered from the disease and the State posted a recovery rate of 99.25 per cent (pc), one of the highest in the country. The case fatality rate (0.56 pc) is one of the lowest in the country as 1,918 patients have succumbed to the disease.
From the first one lakh tests in 10 weeks to one lakh in just two days during the peak of the pandemic, the State has conducted more than 86 lakh tests through 24 RT-PCR labs, 32 TruNAT and RATs at points of care.
Odisha’s strategy for the Covid-19 response was mostly based on the five thematic areas, early preparation and stringent control measures, effective governance and evidence based decision making, enhanced surveillance, testing and treatment measures, supporting and encouraging healthcare and frontline workers involved in Covid response and effective roll out of vaccination.
As part of precautionary measures, while 33.3 lakh healthcare workers, frontline workers and PRI members were oriented on Covid, this helped in better implementation of various public health and therapeutic activities like surveillance, quarantine, testing, micro-planning and providing treatment. Sarpanchs were given Collector’s powers to manage the returness and the temporary medical camps set up for their isolation before allowing them to go home.
Two standalone Covid hospitals were set up with a combined strength of 1,000 beds in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack as early as April first week. The number of dedicated Covid hospitals (DCHs) went up to 50 with around 8,000 beds, including over 500 ICU beds. As many as 7,276 temporary medical camps (TMCs) with a total of 1,62,659 beds were set up across 6,798 panchayats for quarantine and isolation of returnees.
As Covid cases continued to surge, the government made some strategic changes in undertaking measures for management of new infections. While initially private entities were roped in to set up DCHs to keep the public hospitals away from the coronavirus infection, separate Covid units were opened at the medical colleges and hospitals (MCH) to tackle the rising cases.
Plasma banks were established to ensure availability of convalescent plasma therapy. The government also paid an assistance of Rs 50 lakh each to next of the kin of 101 Covid warriors who succumbed to the disease while on duty. Along with advance listing of beneficiaries and timely roll out of vaccination, Odisha has also set a benchmark among other states by administering 11,59,790 doses of vaccines in less than two months.
Important milestones
Highest single day cases: 4,356 on September 25
Highest single day death: 18 on October 6
Highest single day recovery: 4,380 on October 1
Highest testing: 68,906 on August 22