News Analysis India

Tag: Odisha covid cases

  • Odisha to vaccinate vulnerable people without identify proof

    By Express News Service
    BHUBANESWAR: The Odisha government has decided to conduct a special drive for inoculation of vulnerable people who don’t have any approved identity documents.

    As per the decision, separate vaccination sites will be set up in districts and towns for the people eligible for Covid-19 vaccination but do not possess any one of the seven approved identify documents such as Aadhaar card, voter card, passport, driving licence, PAN card, pension card with photo, and NPR smart card.

    The move came after the government found that some vulnerable groups of citizens do not possess any of the prescribed identity proofs required for registration of beneficiaries in the CoWIN portal as mandated by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

    People to be made part of the special vaccination drive included nomads, sadhus and saints, prisoners, inmates of mental health institutions, and rehabilitation centres/camps, residents of old age homes, roadside beggars, and any other identified eligible persons aged 18 years or more.

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    Collectors, Municipal Commissioners, and CDMOs have been directed to prepare a list of such persons and set up separate session sites for timely vaccination of the vulnerable people without identity proof.

    Additional Chief Secretary of Health department PK Mohapatra said such vulnerable persons should not be denied Covid-19 vaccination only because they don’thave any identity proof.

    “As these beneficiaries are also at risk of exposure to coronavirus infection, there is a need to provide special consideration for their vaccination. The CoWIN portal will provide the facility for the creation of special vaccination sessions for this purpose. Districts have been asked to expedite the process,” headded.

  • Odisha reports 879 new Covid cases, test positivity rate shoots up to 2.83%

    By Express News Service
    BHUBANESWAR: Odisha on Thursday reported 879 new COVID-19 cases from 28 of its 30 districts taking the total confirmed infections to 3,45,526. The active cases, however, stand at 4,888 after the recovery of 3,38,662 patients.

    Of the fresh cases, 518 were in quarantine and 361 local infections. The new cases rose by 11% over the previous day’s caseload of 791. The number of local infections went up to 361 from 24 on March 7.

    Khurda recorded the maximum of 144 cases, followed by Sundargarh (131), Nuapada (61), Bargarh (53), Cuttack (50), Sambalpur (48), Puri (45), Kalahandi (43), Ganjam (31), Mayurbhanj (29), Balangir (26) and Keonjhar (25).

    Along with the eight districts bordering Chhattisgarh, Khurda, Cuttack, and Puri districts are turning out as major hotspots during the second wave. The eight districts registered 361 cases contributing over 41% of the daily caseload.

    The virus infection is also spreading fast in Ganjam, Balasore, Angul, Bhadrak, and Jajpur as the districts reported 31, 22, 20, 17, and 15 cases respectively.

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    Sundargarh has the highest number of active cases as 757 patients are undergoing treatment. There are 756 active cases in Khurda, 420 in Kalahandi, 326 in Nuapada, 308 in Bargarh, 284 in Cuttack, 226 in Sambalpur, 186 in Jharsuguda, and 184 in Puri.

    The test positivity rate shot up to 2.83%. The state conducted 31,057 tests in the last 24 hours.

    Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) sealed the main branch of SBI at Unit I for four days after more employees tested positive. The ground floor and first floor of the building have been sealed till April 11 to contain the further spread of the virus.

    “The entry and exit of people including staff and customers into or from outside the premises of the branch, except authorised personnel of the BMC, are banned. The staff, who have tested positive, have been directed to remain in isolation at their residence,” said a BMC official.

    The Directorate of Prisons and Correctional Services has issued an SOP to prevent the outbreak of virus inside jails. All jail superintendents have been asked to strictly follow the guidelines.

    As per the SOP, anybody found positive needs to be sent to the ‘Dedicated Covid Care Centre/Dedicated Covid Health Centre/Dedicated Covid Hospital’ for treatment with the permission of courts.

  • 21 test positive for Covid-19 in Jharsuguda Engineering School in Odisha

    By Express News Service
    JHARSUGUDA (Odisha): As Covid-19 continues to witness a spike, 21 persons from a State Government-run engineering college in Jharsuguda tested positive on Saturday. Of them, eight are students while 13 are staff members.

    Jharsuguda Engineering School, where the cases were detected, is a diploma engineering college of the State Government. Immediately after the cases surfaced, Jharsuguda tehsildar Dilip Pradhan, municipality officer Jogendra Majhi, and the medical team visited the school premises to assess the situation.

    All the positive persons have been kept in isolation in hostel premises and contact tracing is continuing. On the other hand, college and hostel premises are being sanitised. No officials, however, provided any information on how the transmission started.

    Jharsuguda CDMO LM Routray said,”Our team is investigating the situation at the engineering college. We will have more clarity about the numbers only after they report the preliminary findings.”