High active case load in rural Khurda baffles health experts

BHUBANESWAR: Khurda has emerged as the number one district in the state in terms of active Covid cases.
The recovery rate in the district, which also includes capital Bhubaneswar, has dipped to 46.85 per cent. This is far below the recovery rate of Ganjam, the number one district in terms of total Covid cases. Ganjam has fewer active cases than Khurda, and its recovery rate is a reassuring 79 per cent, which is even better than the state average of 64 per cent.
On Sunday, Khurda recorded 342 cases while Ganjam reported 222 cases. Ganjam has 2,545 active cases whereas Khurda has 3,381 active cases.
The data has left health observers intrigued. Khurda is not known for large-scale outbound migration, unlike Ganjam. Khurda received just 20 per cent of the total migrants Ganjam received. Besides, although Khurda includes the state’s largest urban agglomeration in Bhubaneswar, the monitoring of the situation in the capital has been far better than in other parts of the state.
Ajay Parida, director of the Institute of Life Sciences (ILS), said the mystery could only be solved by checking borough-level data to see which pockets of the district were recording more cases and why. “It is really mystifying that Khurda is reporting higher cases than Ganjam in spite of having received just 20,000 migrants. We need to see which areas of the district are reporting more cases. Containment strategy should be prepared accordingly,” he told TOI.
Khurda district currently has a high positivity rate. If the district on an average tests 500 samples (minus Bhubaneswar) a day, it reports a hundred or more cases daily. Bhubaneswar, which is part of Khurda, tests 2,000 samples a day and it also reports more than hundred cases (sometimes close to 200 cases) daily.
Collector (Khurda) Sanat Kumar Mohanty said four blocks in the district — Tangi, Bolagad, Chilika and Banapur — were reporting more cases. “It is true that the rural pockets in Khurda are reporting a high number of cases. This is because of the rise in the number of samples tested. We are identifying the vulnerable pockets and taking containment measures. There are more asymptomatic cases, most of who don’t need admission in hospital. The important task is to reduce the rate of positivity so that further spread of the infection is checked,” he said, adding that the district’s borders with Ganjam had been reopened and hinting that that may be one of the reasons for the spike in cases.
According to trend till July 31, the capital city was contributing more to Khurda’s case load. Now this has changed, with rural Khurda reporting more cases. On Sunday, Bhubaneswar reported 166 (98 quarantine and 68 local) cases out of Khurda’s 342 cases.
Noted city-based doctor Manoj Sahu said the high active case load in Khurda was a worry. “If you have more active cases and that, too, in to a few blocks, the infection will spread more quickly. Immediate containment measures should be taken up by identifying the reasons of virus spread,” he told TOI.
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