Bhubaneswar: In utter disregard to Odisha government’s all-out war to break the Covid-19 transmission cycle, the second Covid-19 positive case in the State has heightened the risk of spread of novel coronavirus cases. The State nodal Covid-19 cell learnt the nCoV positive patient has come in contact with as many as 46 persons.
This incident has come at a time when CM Naveen Patnaik tweeted how he had registered her sister Gita Mehta’s name in the newly launched Covid-19 portal and she living in home quarantine. Naveen’s gesture even got a pat from PM Modi for his proactive step.
The State government has also lauded the gesture of Puri Gajapati Dibyasingha Deb for staying in home quarantine, post registering in the Covid-19 portal.
Despite the State laying high emphasis on self-quarantine and isolation, the popping of this new case has disrupted the discipline in power corridor.
Subroto Bagchi, Odisha government’s Covid-19 spokesperson, said the issue has been taken seriously. And the whole chain of events are being reviewed at the highest level. However, Bagchi stopped short of saying anything regarding initiation of punitive action.
Bagchi said, the second positive case is a 19-year-old, who returned to the State on March 18. He has been kept in isolation ward after testing positive for Covid-19 and of the 46 contacts he has mingled with, 43 have been traced and 8 teams under IDSP are working on a war footing to trace the remaining 3 contacts
A look at the chain of events reveals that there was a violation of ICMR protocol, which mandates that sample testing should be conducted after manifestation of symptoms.
Also Read: Zero or few returnees from China, Iran & Italy saved Odisha from Covid19 tentacles
The 19-year-old youth put in isolation on March 19 after testing positive, a day after his arrival from UK and contacting 46 people even after showing symptoms has put question marks on gross violation of quarantine concept stressed by government.
The issue has snowballed into a controversy while the AIIMS Resident Doctors’ Association has lambasted the violation of Covid-19 protocol in the premier health institute here. As per a press statement, they alleged since the suspect happens to be the son of a high-profile official, the norms were thrown to the wind. Also, many vital information were suppressed.
Even, a senior resident doctor has shot off a missive to the HoD Medicine, AIIMS to relieve him for 14-days home-quarantine.
However, AIIMS Bhubaneswar Director B Gitanjali refuted allegations of violation of any protocol during the treatment of the COVID-19 patient.
Regarding the situation of novel coronavirus in Odisha, Bagchi informed as of today 66 samples have been sent for test, of which 2 tested positive and results of 4 other samples are still awaited.
Other Important announcements:
*Bar on gathering of 7 people at public places
*Embargo on all government functions, meetings seminars and celebrations like birth anniversary etc.
*Meetings on coronavirus are only allowed.
*CM Naveen Patnaik supports PM Modi’s call for Janata curfew and seeks people’s involvement and cooperation.
*Appeals general public not to harass or misbehave with foreign tourists.