Bhubaneswar : Sri Subroto Bagchi, Chief Spokesperson of Govt. of Odisha on COVID-19, Sri Sanjay Kumar Singh, Commissioner-cum-Secretary of Information & Public Relations Department and Smt. Sujata Karthikeyan, Commissioner-cum-Director of Mission Shakti briefed the Press about steps taken by Government of Odisha for prevention of COVID-19. Odisha gets its 3rd Government COVID-19 hospital. Today the 3rd hospitalØ with 500 beds plus 25 bedded ICU facilities at SOA Campus-2, supported by MCL has been dedicated by Hon’ble Chief Minister Sri Naveen Patnaik. While interacting with the Doctors and health care workers of the hospital Hon’ble Chief Minister appreciated their effort to serve people during this global pandemic. Sri Dharmendra Pradhan, Hon’ble Union Minister, Petroleum & Steel has lauded the State Government for it’s all out efforts and proactive measures to stem the spread of COVID-19. At Present 7 Special COVID-19 hospitals with 1547 bed capacity have beenØ made functional in the State. These include Ashwini Hospital in Cuttack, Tata Hospital at Duburi in Jajpur District, Tata Hospital at Joda in Keonjhar District, KIMS (Bhubaneswar) and SUM (Bhubaneswar) in Khurdha District, ID Hospital in Puri and Hi-Tech Medical College (Rourkela) in Sundargarh District. Hon’ble Chief Minister Sri Naveen Patnaik, presiding over an importantØ review meeting in the presence of Health Minister Sri Naba Kisore Das and Senior Officers of Health Department has emphasized on strengthening of COVID-19 testing facilities in Southern and Western Odisha and increasing the number of tests. Accordingly it has been decided to increase the number of sample testing from 300 to 1000 in next 5 days. Similarly, MKCG (Berhampur) and VIMSAR (Burla) are being equipped for the purpose of testing. It is expected that shortly ICMR approval for the testing facility in above two institutions will be received. “STAY HOME, STAY SAFE” Massive training is being imparted to MBBS Students, Faculties, HealthØ Department Officials, District and Block level Master Trainers to empower health services in COVID-19 containment. So far, 891 students of SCB (Cuttack), 325 students of MKCG (Berhampur), 300 students of VIMSAR (Burla), 247 Faculty Members and PG Students of MKCG (Berhampur), totaling to 1500 have already been trained. Similarly, 360 District and 2264 Block level Master Trainers have been given training. Hon’ble Chief Minister has called upon the people to strictly observe ‘LockØ Down’ for betterment of self and society. He also said that thousands of Police personnel have sacrificed their personal and family life in our fight against COVID-19. Let us stay in home and observe social distancing to honour their sacrifice. Hon’ble Chief Minister has directed the Police to implement Lock Down guidelines strictly and to show zero tolerance in case of any communal situation. Food and accommodation have been ensured through 1765 camps forØ around 47,000 ‘Guest Workers’. These workers are from various states of the country. Apart from this, psycho-social counseling in camps and medical services through mobile health units are also extended in few districts. Even fruits and milk for children are also provided to the women and children of migrant workers in camps. Any complaint received through Shramik Sahayata Call Centre-18003456703 is being addressed promptly. Today, 3,27,675 destitute and helpless persons have been provided withØ food in 5247 Gram Panchayats. Similarly, in 108 ULBs 25,239 persons have been provided with food. The members of Self help Groups under Mission Shakti have beenØ harbingers in awareness drive on COVID-19, stretching the message from village to urban areas within 3 days. During Lock Down, SHG Members, assisted by District Administration has been able to provide essential commodities through 600 shops and mobile facilities. They have been instrumental in preparing 25 lakh meals for destitute and helpless people and prepared more than 10 lakh masks. Around 70 lakh mothers involved in SHG activities have been requested to do policing in their homes and to pursue their family members for secured home stay. From 5th April morning to 6th April morning, 249 no of cases have beenØ registered by the Police in the state for violations of different regulations and guidelines related to COVID-19 of which 233 no. of cases for violation of lock down, 5 cases for rumour mongering and 11 for other issues. 427 persons have been arrested for different violations by the Police. “STAY HOME, STAY SAFE” 29 shopkeepers have been arrested in Bhadrak Town for defying social distancing norms. Health Update As per Indian Institute of Public Health Report, the State has not yet enteredØ the 3rd Stage of Community Transmission. As per the history of new cases, they either had a travel history or have come in contact of positive cases. However, there is local transmission in certain clusters of Bhubaneswar. State Government is aggressively containing these clusters by declaring them as containment zone. Active surveillance has been strengthened in these zones and all the areas are being sanitized extensively. Up to 12 noon today, 1888 samples have been tested. Number of PositiveØ Cases stands 39. Two persons have already been cured and discharged from Hospital. Active cases stand 37. Out of 37 positive cases, 31 from Bhubaneswar, 3 from Bhadrak and oneØ each from Cuttack, Kalahandi and Jajpur. 87 persons are under Hospital Isolation today in different hospitals.Ø
