Naveen Patnaik says Covid-19 levelling off in Odisha, but officials sound caution

Odisha has the lowest sample testing to positive cases ratio in Covid-19 cases. Enthused by low number of positive cases, the state has already made several relaxations.

Expressing his happiness over Covid-19 cases levelling off in Odisha, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday asked the police to ensure that movement of agriculture products is not stopped and those indulging in domestic violence during lockdown are punished.

People stand in queue while maintaining social distancing to collect ration from government distribution temporary depot during the nationwide lockdown in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, in Bhubaneswar. (ANI Photo)

Chairing a review meeting, Patnaik said that coronavirus statistics are levelling off in the state and going down. Of the 60 confirmed cases of Covid-19, 18 have recovered while one person died. “That’s a very good sign,” said Patnaik, referring to Odisha’s low ratio of positive cases to sample tested among all the states. With only 60 positive cases from 4,734 samples tested till Monday night, Odisha’s ratio of positive cases to samples tested stood at 1.26 while Delhi with 1,510 cases from the 15,000 samples tested had the highest ratio of 10.

Maharashtra with 2,334 cases had a ratio of 6.55 followed by Tamil Nadu with 6.25. Among other major states, Rajasthan and Kerala have lower infection-to-test conducted ratios, at 2.7 and 2.6, respectively.

Odisha health officials said Odisha’s low ratio of positive cases to samples tested showed there was no community transmission, yet sounded alarm that the state needed to test more to know the exact picture of sperad of infection. “Among the 60 cases, more than 90 per cent are asymptomatic cases. So we can’t celebrate as yet,” said a state health department official, requesting anonymity.

Enthused by low number of positive cases, Odisha has already made several relaxations including allowing NREGS work and farmers to resume agricultural activities, including harvesting, selling Rabi crops and other activities to prepare their fields for the coming Kharif season. The government order said shops and establishments selling agricultural implements, cattle feed and fish feed and food processing and packaging units will be allowed to remain open. The panchayati raj department will also facilitate construction and repair of drinking water facilities. Farmers can also dig farm ponds and purchase agricultural implements.

During Tuesday’s meeting, Patnaik told the police to ensure that movement of essential and non-essential commodities should not be stopped and movement of agricultural products continue. He also highlighted domestic violence as a major cause of concern during lockdown and asked Odisha Police to begin the process of identifying habitual offenders.

Though the state government has so far established 20 dedicated Covid-19 hospitals in 18 districts, Patnaik directed officials to ensure that such arrangement is extended in all the 30 districts of the state within next week. The state government has already chalked out a plan to set up Covid-19 hospitals in 36 places having a total capacity of 6,000 beds by the end of this month.

Meanwhile, the Odisha Joint Entrance Examination 2020, which was to be held in the first week of May, has been postponed due to extension of lockdown. The annual entrance examination for admission to undergraduate courses in Engineering & Technology, Pharmacy, Postgraduate course like MBA, MCA, MTech, MPharm and Integrated was to be held from May 2-5.

Similarly, evaluation of answer sheets of the annual matriculation examinations conducted by the Odisha Board of Secondary Education will be done after conclusion of the lockdown period on May 3, said school and mass education minister Samir Ranjan Dash. Dash said textbooks for students from Class I to Class VIII will be delivered to them at their doorstep by school teachers by April 25.

Meanwhile, eminent citizens, civil society organisations and advocacy groups from Odisha have demanded setting up of a National Task Force to address the hardship and difficulties of millions of migrant workers who are stranded in different parts of the country amidst a nationwide lockdown. The need for a task force has become urgent in view of the imminent extension of the lockdown till May 3, said Citizens’ Action Group on Corona, Odisha.

The Citizens’s Action Group said the recent violence involving migrant workers in Gujarat’s Surat city and Mumbai showed the need and urgency for better inter-state coordination. “There are more than 2.4 million migrant workers who are currently stranded in some 50,000 camps scattered across the country. Most of them were looking to return home with the hope that the lockdown would end Monday. But now with lockdown getting extended by a fortnight, we are not sure how impatience and anxiety will shape the behavior of the stranded workers,” said CAG co-convenor Umi Daniel.