Rashmi Ranjan

The Covid-19 pandemic has taken a toll on the mental health of a large number of people due to many factors such as loss of family members, job insecurity and isolation, said Odisha Health Director Niranjan Mishra on Sunday.

Speaking to media, Mishra, said, “Many people lost their jobs, family members and went through serious financial crisis during the pandemic which has gradually led to a spike in depression and anxiety cases in the State.”

“The State Government had taken several measures to address the issue amid the pandemic.  Mobile mental health units were set up in all the districts. The officials used to visit various quarantine, isolation and health centres to spread awareness on mental health. Call centres were also set up to enable the people to take advice from professionals regarding the mental issues,” he added.

Despite formidable challenges, we have ably dealt with the situation and the Central Government has also awarded us this year for our efforts to address the mental health during the pandemic, the top health official informed.

When asked about the probability of a third wave of Covid, Mishra said, “Like World Health Organisation (WHO) has said, the Coronavirus is not going anywhere. However, the transmission outbreak will transform from pandemic to endemic. Cases and deaths due to the virus will eventually come down.”  

With festive season around, the next three months are going to be very crucial for us. We need to be more cautious and careful. Similarly, we must follow the basic Covid norms like use of mask, avoiding crowd, washing hands in regular intervals to check the spread of the virus during the period, he stated.

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