Odisha is going to open districts with low positive rates as it prepares for a probable third wave of Covid infections, according to chief minister Naveen Patnaik, who spoke here on Tuesday.
“The state administration is actively considering unlocking districts where positive rates are dropping in a stepwise manner,” Naveen said at a review meeting on the state’s Covid issue, according to a government release.
The administration has announced that the current lockdown will last until June 17th. According to sources, districts with less than 5% optimism may see some relief shortly, but the lockdown will not be extended any further. In the western-southern districts, the number of active cases has dropped dramatically. The number of cases in the northern and coastal districts is increasing. Test positive rates of less than 5% were reported in five districts of Ganjam, Sonepur, Kandhamal, Gajapati, and Balangir in the past week, from June 1 to June 7. Koraput, Malkangiri, Nuapada, Deogarh, Keonjhar, Kalahandi, Bargarh, and Sambalpur were among the eight districts where positivity was between five and ten percent.
Sundargarh, Deogarh, Jharsuguda, Bargarh, Nuapada, Balangir, Sonepur, Sambalpur, Kalahandi, Kandhamal, Gajapati, and Ganjam had daily positivity of less than 4%, with Ganjam having the lowest at 1.82 percent. According to a state government prediction, the daily +ve cases will reduce to 2,955 by June 21, down from 5896 on Tuesday, based on the present trend of a 4.5 percent reduction rate.
By then, the overall number of active cases will have dropped to 36,815 from the current 66,172. According to a government official, in light of public health specialists’ estimates that children will be disproportionately affected by a hypothetical third wave, Naveen instructed government staff to prepare for the worst-case situation.
The government plans to build 3000 dedicated pediatric Covid beds, including 610 ICU beds, for pediatric Covid care. ACCORDING TO THE GOVERNMENT, the COVID capacity-building team will teach a total of 1114 doctors and 1036 staff nurses in pediatric care. According to sources, the government has been preparing for the third wave of 10,000 daily injections. In the existing 85 Covid hospitals and seven government medical institutions, the state health administration has decided to set aside 1610 general beds and 610 intensive care beds for children.
There will be 155 regular beds and 202 ICU beds in the medical colleges.
The Covid hospitals, which have a total of 10,736 isolation beds and 4072 intensive care units, will set aside 1455 general beds and 408 ICU beds for children. According to a state government projection, based on the current pattern of a 4.5 percent decrease rate, the daily +ve cases will drop to 2,955 by June 21, down from 5896 on Tuesday.
The total number of active cases will have decreased from 66,172 to 36,815 by then. According to a government official, Naveen urged government personnel to prepare for the worst-case scenario in light of public health experts’ estimations that a potential third wave would disproportionately affect youngsters. For pediatric Covid care, the government wants to establish 3000 dedicated pediatric Covid beds, including 610 ICU beds.
