A single bench of Justice Biswanath Rath passed the order on January 31 while hearing a writ petition regarding the reopening of schools.
The Special Relief Commissioner of Odisha, PK Jena on Wednesday expressed optimism that the ongoing third wave of COVID pandemic in the State may soon wrap itself up but only if people abide by the appropriate virus infection prevention guidelines religiously at all places.
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Odisha government on Sunday informed that around 97% of COVID patients in the State are not needing hospitalization. Of the total 16117 active positive cases, 15640 are being treated in home isolation which means as many as 477 patients are under treatment at various hospitals in the State.
The big headache for the State policymakers is nearly 75 percent of new infections come from the vaccinated age group of 19-40 years.
The Delhi government on Tuesday announced a weekend curfew and work from home for its offices as the city recorded 5,481 fresh COVID-19 cases, the highest number since May 16, with a positivity rate of 8.37 per cent and three fatalities.
According to a source in Delhi health department, it is the onset of the third Covid wave in the city where three deaths were reported in last 24 hours, taking death toll at 25,113.
A total of 1,892 Omicron cases have so far been detected across 23 states and Union territories in the country and of the patients, 766 have either recuperated or migrated, the Union health ministry said on Tuesday.
The School and Mass Education (SME) department of the Odisha government had to eat its words after first announcing that physical, offline teaching for classes I to V in the state will start from January 3, then refuting claims of the director of medical education and training (DMET) Dr Rama Raman Mohanty to assert that classes will start on Jan 3 as scheduled before timely announcing on Sunday that the decision on reopening of Classes I to V had been put on hold in view of the rising cases of Covid-19 in the state!
The Health Ministry said that given the fast pace of vaccination in India and high exposure to Delta variant as evidenced by high seropositivity, the severity of the disease is anticipated to be low.
Contending that the third wave has already started in the US, the UK, Russia, and other countries, he called upon people to take extreme precautions during the upcoming festivals like Janmashtami, Ganeshotsav, Navratri and Diwali to avoid a surge in the cases.
BMC Commissioner said the civic body is prepared to face any exigencies in case the third wave hits the State.
“To protect our children, we need to strictly follow the Covid-19 norms. I appeal people to wear masks, maintain proper hand hygiene routine and practice social distancing. Stay safe and keep children protected," said CM Naveen Patnaik.
When asked whether the rise in the number of Covid infection among children can be attributed to the third wave, Jagdev said that it is too early to draw any conclusion.
Mohapatra, in the letter, asked the district collectors to remain prepared till March 2022.
Except for Khordha, the fully vaccination rate is not enthusing. While Nuapada fares the poorest in Odisha, It is far from satisfactory in Sundargarh and Cuttack - the second wave epicentres
Respiratory infections in (0-5 years) during second wave peak up 3,005 percent, Pneumonia up 1,962 percent and Asthma up 1,038 percent. Moreover, severe underweight children below 5 years detected were at 2.23 lakh
The report said the third wave is already upon us if we look at the rising R value, the reproduction rate of Covid-19, that has increased from 0.9 to 1 over the last week of July.
Releasing his new study based on his mathematical 'model formula', he has said that vaccination has further reduced this risk.
High rate of infections among children and adolescents has become a major cause of concern for the health authorities when Odisha government is preparing for possible third wave of Covid-19 pandemic.