Bhubaneswar: With Maharashtra recording a sharp 63 per cent rise in COVID-19 positive cases in a span of 24 hours, the rapid rise in the novel coronavirus count in this western State of the country holds a big threat to Odisha.
The country's largest commercial state is now emerging as the epicentre of COVID-19 cases. The novel coronavirus positives touched 32 on Sunday. The footprints of the virus are now observed in at least five of a total of 36 districts. The districts are: Pune, Nagpur, Yavatmal, Raigad and Thane. Mumbai alone has reported 5 COVID-19 positive cases.
Maharshtra is now accounting for nearly one-third of the COVID-19 positive cases in the country. The Covid-19 positives in India touched 108 today. The number of infected Indians stood at 90. The total discharged cases stood at 9. The count in India is likely to rise as 4000 suspected cases are still under surveillance.
Why the threat perception is high for Odisha? As per a study done by Centre for Migration and Labour Solutions, most migrant workers from Odisha are concentrated in the Greater Mumbai region of Mumbai, Thane and Navi Mumbai.
A glance at the data available with the IDSP (Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme) reveals big. The novel coronavirus positives cases have been recorded in Vashi (Navi Mumbai), Kalyan (Thane) and Mumbai. The Mumbai metropolitan region has recorded 9 positive cases till Sunday.
As per a recent study published in the Journal of Emerging Infectious Diseases, over 10 per cent of patients having novel coronavirus infection are infected by ones who were yet show the symptoms.
For which, the US based Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has said that India currently has the level of sustained community transmission. And the risk of it becoming graduated to widespread community transmission level exists, unless remedied.
In the context of rising positive cases in the commercial centres of the country, the inland transmission of the lethal virus seems very high.
And to prevent it from acquiring such a disastrous level, researchers have advocated the urgent need of lockdown, which means the control measures like isolation, quarantine, school closures, travel restrictions and cancellation of mass gatherings.
With signs of stabilisation yet to appear, the country's, including Odisha, fight against the COVID-19 seems to be a long haul. And Odisha Government's Covid-19 chief spokesperson Subroto Bagchi has rightly predicted a time-span of 6-months.