Even as the Odisha government maintained that the Cholera situation is under control in Rourkela and put the death figure at six, unofficial reports suggest a grimmer situation in the Steel City.
As per reports, as many as 13 people have died in Rourkela due to the recent Cholera outbreak with more than 1400 infected with the dreaded disease. Three patients have died at the Rourkela Government Hospital, three at other hospitals, and one patient at his home.
More importantly, the disease has now reportedly spread to almost all the 40 wards of Rourkela.
However, with chlorination of water, the fresh Cholera cases being detected are not that severe and are getting cured. While a medical team from Sundargarh is already at Rourkela, two more teams from SCB Hospital in Cuttack and RMRC in Bhubaneswar will reach Rourkela soon to ascertain the exact cause of the cholera outbreak in the city.
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Speaking to reporters, Odisha Public Health Director Niranjan Mishra said, “We have tested many stool samples. While we found Vibrio Cholera bacteria in some samples, some others carried E-Coli bacteria too. So it is a mixed infection. The government has audited reports of only six deaths. We have data on some more deaths too. But we will officially release the figure once the death committee confirms it after verifying every data in the private hospitals as well.”
“The peak period has already crossed. The disease is on a declining trend,” Mishra said.