COVID situation in coastal Odisha may improve by next week

Bhubaneswar: With decline in COVID-19 positivity rate in Odisha, the highly infected coastal districts may witness drop in daily cases by July next week.

“The second wave of COVID-19 peak delayed in coastal region of the State. While the situation has been improved in western Odisha, the positivity rate is likely to dip in coastal districts by second week of July,” informed Odisha Health Director Bijay Mohapatra today.

Speaking on the readiness for the impending third wave of COVID-19, he said that the State Government was well-prepared to face the imminent threat to public health.

“There are three key areas to consider to deal with the possible threat. Our primary goal is to increase vaccination, surveillance and keep the infrastructure ready ahead of the third wave. The focus will be on treating children for which the training work has already begun,” the top health official said.

On rise in daily fatality rate in Odisha, he said that the death toll will remain high for next few days as critical COVID patients are still in hospitals.

“We can accurately say how many COVID patients are dying on which day after the audit report comes out at district level. Currently, 450 patients are in Intensive Care Units (ICUs) of various hospitals. The risk of death from ventilator patients remains 90 to 92 percent. There are still 55 to 60 people on ventilator support. Usually, 30 percent of the patients go to the ventilator from the ICU. As long as there are critical patients, the toll will remain the same,” Mahapatra said.