Omicron has spread to every district of Odisha; 4 districts in focus: Top official

Bhubaneswar: Amidst a sudden spike in COVID-19 daily cases in the state, Director of Health and Family Welfare Bijay Panigrahi today said Omicron has spread to almost all the districts in the state and the transmission will further increase in coming days.

Speaking to mediapersons, the senior health official said like other states, the transmission will further increase in Odisha as well. Though severity of the situation is currently less, the state Government is taking all precautionary measures keeping in view the possible spike in the number of cases.

“Surveillance and vaccination drives are underway in full swing. Though the demand for ICU beds is less now, arrangements are being made to increase the number of beds,” he added.

The infection rate is high in districts like Khordha, Sundargarh, Sambalpur and Balasore. These four districts are in our focus.

Also Read: 24 new Omicron cases detected in Odisha; tally surges to 61

Mohapatra further urged people not to take the situation casually and strictly follow COVID-19 norms like mask-wearing,  frequent hand-sanitizing and social distancing. He also advised them not to overcrowd public places.

“Senior citizens and health workers will be administered precaution dose from January 10. As per the Centre’s guidelines, the same vaccine, which they had received in past, will be administered to the beneficiaries as booster dose. The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has approved a testing kit to detect Omicron variant of COVID-19. Odisha Government has already begun the process the procure the kit,” he added.

Earlier yesterday, 24 more persons in the state were found infected with the new variant of COVID-19 taking the tally to 61. Of the 24 fresh infectees, five have travel history to foreign countries and rest 19 were local contacts. Total 218 samples were sent for genome sequencing, Institute of Life Science (ILS) Director Ajay Parida had informed this yesterday.