ROURKELA: Worst-hit by the second wave of Covid-19, Rourkela is finally breathing a sigh of relief. After a surge in cases, the number of new infections is showing a declining trend since the last six days.
Hoping to further deflate the Covid curve in the next fortnight, the local administration now plans to vaccinate the slum population which is at a higher risk of the infection.
If Sundargarh district had emerged as one of the epicenters of Covid-19 with abnormal daily spike in new cases since April 9, then Rourkela was a bulk contributor accounting for 60 to 80 per cent of daily cases.
Of the 882 new cases in the district within the last 24 hours, Rourkela Municipal Corporation (RMC) areas accounted for 135 new cases, which was mere 15.30 per cent (pc). On May 8, the city had accounted for 58.52 pc cases of Sundargarh and since then, there has been a gradual drop. It was 31.12 pc and 32.68 pc on Wednesday and Thursday respectively.
RMC Commissioner Dibyajyoti Parida exuded confidence that by the next fortnight, daily cases would be further curbed to below 10 pc of the total cases of Sundargarh. He said about 80 pc of daily testing of Sundargarh is getting done at Rourkela and with extensive testing, positive cases are being detected and further spread is contained with a need based micro-containment approach.
A majority of the cases are asymptomatic and as of now, there are six micro containment zones in the city. Till May 5, there were 5,577 positive patients in home isolation which came down to 4,624 till May 13 following drop in daily new infections and recovery of patients.
BJP demands Covid hospital
Leaders of Bonai organisational district of BJP on Friday reviewed the Covid-19 situation in Bonai and demanded strengthening of healthcare management in the sub-division. Participating in the virtual meet, Odisha unit BJP spokesperson Dhiren Senapati demanded to convert the Bonai Sub-Divisional Hospital into a Covid-19 hospital in view of surge in infections.
He also demanded to equip all four Community Health Centres of the sub-division with oxygen beds, strengthening of ambulance service, enhancing testing and engaging health workers for monitoring of oxygen levels of positive patients in home isolation.
Alarming rise in infections
Angul: The district saw the highest single-day spike of 636 Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours. While Angul saw 3,190 cases in April, the tally went up to 6,000 by May 13. And amid the rising cases, there are no beds available at the 120-bed Talcher Covid hospital currently. CDMO Abhaya Das said there is shortage of oxygen cylinders in the hospital.
VIRUS CURVE in Rourkela
Till 6 days back, Rourkela contributed 60 to 80 per cent of Sundargarh tally
On Friday, the percentage was just 15.3
A majority of cases in Rourkela are asymptomatic
City currently has 6 micro-containment zones