COVID scare: Odisha govt ready to combat any eventuality, says Public Health Director

A day after Odisha government issued a fresh Covid-19 advisory amid Omicron sub-variant BF.7 scare, State Public Health Director, Niranjan Mishra on Sunday said that the state is battle-ready and there is no need to panic.

After a high-level meeting on the state's preparedness, Mishra said that Odisha government is fully prepared to tackle any eventualities arising out of Covid-19.

 “A mock drill will be conducted at all the hospitals on December 27 to review the preparedness and the available facilities. All the districts have been asked to scale up testing, tracking and treatment,” said Mishra.

“Government medical colleges and district hospitals have been ordered to make special arrangements for the treatment of Covid-infected patients. They have also been asked to keep ready oxygen beds and adequate stock of medicines,” he said.

The health official, however, has urged people not to panic and not spread panic either.

 “Vaccination drive in the State has been successful and effective. People have developed a strong immunity against Covid-19. Hence there is no need to panic,” added Mishra.

Notably, BF.7 variant of Covid-19 has spread its tentacle alarmingly in some countries, particularly China, setting alarm bells ringing in other countries. 

BF.7 is a sub-lineage of the Omicron variant BA.5 and has the strongest infection ability since it is highly transmissible. It has a shorter incubation period and has a higher capacity to cause reinfection or infect even those vaccinated.

As per reports, it is also causing havoc in several other countries, including US, UK, and European nations such as Belgium, Germany, France and Denmark.