Bhubaneswar: Unlike nine other states, Odisha seemingly has lost a chance to script a COVID-19 success story. Within 36 hours after joining the coveted list of 25 districts nationally, Odisha's Bhadrak with 5 new cases re-emerged on the COVID map, only to join the list of slip-back districts.
However, Bhadrak is not the lone district to figure in the slip-back list, Vishakapatnam has also reported a new case today.
A glance at the 25 districts announced by Centre on Friday shows that none, except two districts (Bhadrak and Vizag), have reported any new Covid-19 case till date.
While releasing the list of 25 districts in the country, Union Health Ministry emphasised on the fact that imposing cluster containment plan in COVID hit places has yielded results, for which, a total of 25 districts, including two in Odisha, didn't report any new COVID-19 positive case during the last fortnight.
The first COVID case in Bhadrak district had been reported from Purana Bazar locality of Bhadrak town. The district administration imposed containment zone immediately. Later, two other positive COVID-19 cases were detected. And containment zone restrictions were clamped at Charampa and Erein area in the town to break the transmission cycle of the coronavirus.
While the district administration first lifted containment zone restrictions from Purana bazar area on April 15, the containment zone 2 at Charampa and Erien was lifted only on Sunday.
And hours later, two blocks adjacent to the Bhadrak municipality area, Basudevpur and Bhandaripokhari, reported 5 new COVID-19 cases.
The detection of new cases in the blocks adjacent to the Bhadrak municipality area puts a question mark on the efficacy of containment plan in Odisha.
Moreover, as per the status report of new positives released by the State health department, "contact tracing is on". Since, as of now, the State health department is yet show any of the new cases having contact with the earlier three positives, a certain inference can be drawn here, which all the way hints at local transmission of COVID-19 is on in the district.