Dilip Kumar

News Highlights

  • Bijay Mohapatra said that people having covid symptoms won’t have to visit far off places to get them tested for the infection.
  • Almost all the districts in Odisha will have dedicated and sophisticated testing centres.

Keeping in mind the enormity of the situation ahead of a possible third wave of Covid-19 pandemic, the Odisha Government has decided to set up 14 more RT-PCR laboratories in the State to facilitate and speed up testing.

Speaking to reporters, the Director, Health Services, Dr Bijay Mohapatra said that people having covid symptoms won’t have to visit far off places to get them tested for the infection.

“The government has decided to set up 14 more RT-PCR laboratories in the State. Almost all the districts in Odisha will have dedicated and sophisticated testing centres. We would speed up testing in the coming days,” he added.

The top health official further said that the government has left no stone unturned to tackle a possible third wave. Tracing, testing and surveillance are the key tools to prevent any wave of a pandemic.

“Moreover, appropriate treatment to critical patients is another strategy to check a pandemic. The government has made elaborate arrangements for all these things before the arrival of the next wave of Covid-19,” he added.

Besides, the State government is giving priority to vaccination. The pace of inoculation is being expedited as per the availability of vaccines in the State, he pointed out.

Clarifying on Covid fatalities, the Health Services Director reiterated that the death figure given by the Health Department is based on old audited reports. The real figures on the rate of fatality can only be ascertained after the end of the pandemic.

Notably, the Odisha Government has confirmed 66 more fatalities due to Covid19 on Wednesday taking the cumulative toll to 6.168.
As many as 1,315 fresh Covid-19 cases have been reported in last 24 hours pushing the tally to 9,82,181.

Khurdha district of which the State Capital is a part accounted for the maximum fatalities and new infections.

scrollToTop