There have been four new positive cases of COVID-19 coronavirus in Odisha today. The number of total cases in the state has increased to a total of 87 after these last four cases. But the good news is that till now 33 cases have recovered too and which this lowers the total number 53. The four positive cases are that from Jajpur, which already had 8 cases before, hence raising the total number to 12, consisting of a 21-year-old male and three females with ages 48,70 and 80 years, respectively. According to Asit Tripathy, Chief Secretary, Odisha, a curfew has been imposed in Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur districts from 10 pm Thursday for COVID-19 surveillance. The curfew will be operational till 26 April 2020, he added.

All of these detected for coronavirus infection positive are family members of the coronavirus positive person. This same person has returned from West Bengal earlier. The Odisha-West Bengal border has been sealed off on the Government’s orders. It has been contemplated that one-third of the COVID-19 infected patients of Odisha has had a link back to West Bengal. Now the Government of Odisha is checking on returnees and people who are trying to sneak into the state illegally.

The Chief Minister of Odisha – Mr. Naveen Patnaik has been actively working for the situation and has responded sharping with lockdowns. The condition has been well monitored by government officials. Odisha has been the first state to set up the COVID Hospital, which is specially designed to fight the infection with special wards for treatment. Patnaik government has been working on releasing unemployment allowances to the bank accounts of active MGNREGA workers in Odisha. The state government has also raised the corpus of the contingency fund five-fold to Rs 2,000 crore to meet the expenses required during the battle against COVID-19.

Considering the current scenario of the COVID-19 coronavirus infection and its spreading, we should maintain social distancing and report anyone who has returned from other states. Remember to wear masks, disposable gloves and make use of 70% alcohol sanitizer (or wash hands with soap for 2 mins) Let’s help our Government to control and eliminate the infection from our state once and forever.