As per the Health Department, one of the two COVID-19 cases from Kalahandi district has recovered and tested negative for coronavirus. The patient is currently undergoing treatment at Ashwini Covid Hospital in Cuttack and might be discharged soon.
Happy to share that one Covid positive case of Kalahandi district, presently at Ashwini Covid hospital, Cuttack, has recovered and tested negative for COVID-19. Our best wishes to him.
— H & FW Dept Odisha (@HFWOdisha) April 12, 2020
It is worthwhile to mention here that two persons from Kalahandi district had been infected with the coronavirus. The first patient (Odisha's Case-20) had a travel history to Bahrain while the second (Case-45) was a contact of Case-20. The health department is yet to clarify who among these two has recovered from the disease.
Earlier, 12 people had been cured of the disease in the State. The data shared by the health department reveals that 3862 samples have been tested in the State so far, out of which 54 have tested positive for COVID-19 (including 40 active cases, 13 recovery cases, and one death case).
Also Read: COVID19 Fightback: Odisha Sets Up 6,939 Temporary Medical Centres In GP Level
In a related development, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on Sunday issued a revised status of government labs for testing of COVID-19 samples. While Ispat General Hospital (IGH) in Rourkela has received approval for carrying out COVID tests as per protocol, Burla-based VIMSAR, on the other hand, was included in category-1, which means it does not have required infrastructure and needs State government’s support for setting up the facility.
ICMR issues revised status of government labs for testing of #COVID19. While Rourkela IGH present in the list has been approved for carrying out tests as per protocol, Burla VIMSAR has been included in category 1 meaning it needs State govt's support for setting up the facility pic.twitter.com/u75AMlhB0g
— OTV (@otvnews) April 12, 2020
Also Read: Odisha Enhances Contingency Fund Corpus To Rs 2,000 Crore To Tackle COVID-19
Earlier in the day, the State government provided travel history of patient no. 50, 51, 52, 53 and 54 and said that the contact tracing and follow up action is underway.
Patient Travel History #Covid19
Case no: 50, 51 & 52.
Contact tracing and follow up action is being taken. pic.twitter.com/rEkkNzAAOS
— I & PR Department, Odisha (@IPR_Odisha) April 12, 2020
Patient Travel History #Covid19
Case no: 53 & 54.
Contact tracing and follow up action is being taken. pic.twitter.com/X7d0R53FHy
— I & PR Department, Odisha (@IPR_Odisha) April 12, 2020
The roads were sealed and additional force deployment was made a day after DGP Abhaya visited the border check gates.
The travel history of the four COVID-19 patients released by the state government claimed that all of them had visited Kolkata and returned to Odisha in the first week of April, which indicated that the people could easily cross through the border even it was sealed due to lockdown.
Odisha governments COVID-19 spokesperson Subroto Bagchi said that it was not possible to stop human movement along the border with West Bengal which is 202 km long.
Bagchi said one-third of the state's 83 COVID-19 cases had West Bengal link. "West Bengal link returnees are another challenge for Odisha after Nizamuddin link," he said.
Apart from two main check gates at Laxmannath and Udaypur crossing, there are at least 90 motorable roads to West Bengal through Balasore and Mayurbhanj districts of Odisha. The people stranded in West Bengal used those roads to enter into Odisha, a senior police officer said.
Also Read: Naveen Patnaik Administers Oath To 6798 Sarpanchs To Keep Their Areas Free From COVID-19
While there are 37 such roads through Balasore district, 22 other roads connect Mayurbhanj to West Bengal.
This apart, people used to walk down to Odisha through forest and water bodies crossing the border, the police officer said.
However, following the DGPs instruction and in wake of a hue and cry over the West Bengal returnees testing positive for COVID-19, the police on Wednesday closed 35 of the 37 roads from Balasore side and 22 others from Mayurbhanj side by erecting barricades.
We have also deployed armed forces in certain entry points in order to prevent the entry of anyone into Odisha territory, the officer said, adding that anybody caught trespassing into the state will have to remain in quarantine and to be subjected to coronavirus test before getting released.
The DGP also issued an advisory alerting all Marine Police Stations to be on the lookout for boats attempting to bring persons to Odisha, ADG Railways and Coastal Security Pranabindu Acharya said.
Also Read: COVID-19 Lockdown: SOP For Movement Of Goods, Labour & Vehicle Repair Shops
He said the marine police station personnel have been directed to intensify patrolling and also deploy personnel at landing points in the coast.
(PTI)