Is Lower Testing Behind Decline In COVID-19 Cases In Odisha?

Bhubaneswar: For the last few days now, the number of daily COVID-19 cases is showing a declining trend in Odisha. On September 26, while 3,922 cases were detected in the State, it dropped to 3,235 on September 27 and 3,067 on September 28. This might be seen as a declining trend by some, but there’s […]

COVID-19-in-Odisha

COVID-19-in-Odisha

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Bhubaneswar: For the last few days now, the number of daily COVID-19 cases is showing a declining trend in Odisha. On September 26, while 3,922 cases were detected in the State, it dropped to 3,235 on September 27 and 3,067 on September 28. This might be seen as a declining trend by some, but there's more to this than meets the eye as the State has also seen a dip in the number of COVID-19 tests this month.

Have a look at the total number of testing in the last three days:

September 26 - 49,049 Tests

September 27 - 47,634 Tests

September 28 - 41,452 Tests

The opposition parties in Odisha have also alleged that testing in Odisha has declined significantly. "If more than 25 members of the Legislative Assembly have tested positive for the virus, the situation of Odisha could be well assumed. The State government is hell-bent to hide the actual COVID-19 data," said BJP MLA, Jayanarayan Mishra.

Congress MLA Santosh Singh Saluja said, "Had there been more testing, the number of daily positive cases would have been around 4000-4500 range and not between 3000 and 3500."

Responding to the allegations, the ruling-BJD MLA Amar Satapathy said, "Testing is being done where it is needed. In comparison to Odisha, other states have reduced the number of testing far more."

Meanwhile, the sero-survey revealed that in capital city Bhubaneswar around 10 per cent people have developed antibodies so far.

Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) commissioner, Prem Chandra Chaudhary said that the situation may improve in October.

"In the sero-survey, it was found that the not more than 10 per cent people have developed antibodies. The cases may decline further and improve towards the month of October," said Chaudhary.

"We are presently so much busy in treating COVID-19 patients that we are unable to study the virus. If the number of daily cases will remain around 3,000 till October 5, we can assume that the infection rate is under control," said former AIIMS director, Ashok Kumar Mahapatra.

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