Odisha reported 3,554 new coronavirus cases on Saturday, 600 more than Friday and the test positivity rate (TPR) stayed above 5% for the fourth straight day after going under on June 21 and 22, triggering concerns that the infection may be on the rise again following the easing of lockdown and resultant violation of Covid-19 protocols. While some experts think the resurgence could also be linked to a lesser number of RT-PCR tests being done off late, the government is mulling extending the lockdown in at least 8 districts and the capital city of Bhubaneswar.
TPR is on the rise since June 23 and in many districts including Khurda, Puri, Mayurbhanj, Jagatsinghpur and Cuttack it is higher than the state average, with Khurda recording 10.64% TPR- the highest in the state. As per the state Covid dashboard, TPR in 24 districts has shown a rising trend. The government thinks the TPR is rising due to violations of Covid-containment norms.
“People out to buy a packet of milk are often found gossiping instead of returning home after the purchase. Infection is not declining because of people not adhering to Covid appropriate behaviour. The virus is there in the environment so transmission will happen,” director of state health services Bijay Mohapatra said.
In another worrying sign, the state reported 47 deaths, the highest daily toll so far, on Saturday. Mohapatra said the government was closely monitoring the situation on a daily basis. “We have to see whether the severity [of infection] has lessened or not and if there is another surge. As [the] current lockdown restriction will continue till July 1, the government will decide whether to further relax restrictions at a high-level meeting on June 30.”
Noted microbiologist Dr TM Mohapatra said the TPR may be higher due to the percentage of RT-PCR tests, considered to be the gold-standard of Covid testing, not going up. “In the last 10 days, the percentage of RT-PCR tests to total tests conducted is around 30-32%, the rest are Rapid Antigen tests. The easing of lockdown also led to people throwing all Covid appropriate behaviours to winds, which is also fuelling fresh infections,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}Noted microbiologist Dr TM Mohapatra said the TPR may be higher due to the percentage of RT-PCR tests, considered to be the gold-standard of Covid testing, not going up. “In the last 10 days, the percentage of RT-PCR tests to total tests conducted is around 30-32%, the rest are Rapid Antigen tests. The easing of lockdown also led to people throwing all Covid appropriate behaviours to winds, which is also fuelling fresh infections,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}He cited the instances of crowding at vaccination centres without adherence to Covid-appropriate behaviour as a case in point. On Saturday, the state police failed to contain thousands of people flocking to vaccination centres in Balasore and Cuttack. In Balasore Zilla School, over 1000 people arrived to receive the vaccine against the stock of 600 vaccine doses, resulting in chaos, officials said.