COVID 3rd wave can’t be ruled out: Odisha top health official

Bhubaneswar: Even as the country is going through the devastating second wave of COVID-19 pandemic, Odisha Directorate of Medical Education and Training (DMET) Chief Dr CBK Mohanty today warned that possibility of third wave of the pandemic cannot be ruled out.

“Third wave of the deadly virus has not arrived in many countries. However, we cannot guarantee that it won’t come. Hence, we must be prepared for it,” the senior health official said.

Briefing on Odisha’s current situation, he said the state’s COVID-19 trajectory shows a downward trend and there has been no doubling of positive cases in the recent time. Though the infection spread quickly in the second wave, now the situation is showing a downward trend.

” The infection rate went up to a certain level and stopped there. For the last couple of days, the state’s single-day tally remains between 8,000 and 10,000. In states like Maharashtra and Delhi, the number of positive cases was at peak a month ago and is declining now. We hope that the downward trend will continue in Odisha for some more days and after that the infection will slow down,” the official stated.

Regarding the state’s death rate, Mohanty said, “Many COVID patients were critical around 15 days ago, for which the number of deaths has increased. But if we see the overall percentage, we are in a better position.”