Mismatch In Bhubaneswar COVID19 Data Puts BMC In Tight Spot

Bhubaneswar: What is the exact number of COVID-19 cases in Bhubaneswar? The million dollar question is now haunting the residents of the smart city as the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation's (BMC) reported figures seem to have gaping mismatches.

Surprisingly, there is no coherence in the data shared by the Information &Public Relations (I&PR) department and the BMC regarding the COVID-19 cases detected in Khordha district and Bhubaneswar (BMC area).

To understand the mismatch, one has to closely monitor the daily data provided by Odisha government’s I & PR department, Khordhadistrict administration and the BMC in the last three days.

On August 9, the I&PR department through a tweet informed that 342 new COVID-19 cases were detected from Khordha district in the preceding 24 hours. Of the new cases, 97 were reported from different parts of Khordha district and the remaining cases were from BMC area.

However, on that day, BMC reported 166 new cases and 79 cases went unaccounted.

Similar mismatch has occurred not just once to be termed as an aberration or a mistake.

On August 8, a mismatch of 17 COVID-19 cases was observed after BMC reported 190 new cases while the I&PR department’s tweet said that there were a total of 274 cases from Khordha district out of which only 67 cases were from areas outside the BMC jurisdiction.

A difference in the COVID-19 data reporting was also observed on August 7. Of the total 298 cases in the district, the Khordha administration reported 133 cases, and the balance 165 cases had to be from BMC area. However, BMC reported only 101 cases that day. Where did the rest 64 cases go is still a mystery.

“There is absolutely no coherence in the COVID-19 numbers and there is no inter-sectoral coordination between the Khordha district administration and the BMC. The patients from the district are unable to enter BMC hospitals. The way BMC Commissioner and others are treating people is not justified,” alleged Pradip Nayak, a resident from Bhubaneswar.

Commenting on the data mismatch, BMC Commissioner, Prem Chandra Chaudhary said “A lot of positive cases are either from other districts or States. During reporting on ICMR portal, it is coming under Khordha district. But when contact tracing of the positive patients is done, they are done separately. Hence, there is no 100 % match between total data.”

(Edited By Bikram Keshari Jena)

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