Covid cases, positivity rate go up marginally in state

BHUBANESWAR: At a time when the state has removed most of the curbs, fresh Covid cases in Odisha have been showing a marginal rise with 1315 people infected in the past 24 hours compared to 1032 on August 2, the lowest in three months.
The test positivity rate (TPR) crossed 2% on Wednesday compared to 1.9 on Tuesday and 1.53 a day earlier. Khurda district, of which Bhubaneswar is a part, contributed the maximum 413 fresh cases and had the highest TPR of 4.1% followed by Cuttack — 198 cases and TPR of 3.29%. While the two districts accounted for 46% of new infections, Bhubaneswar, where the vaccination is nearing saturation, alone reported 266 cases.
The increase in cases was met with concern by experts. “At a time when the lockdown has almost been lifted, any rise in new cases may be a worrying trend. The only way out is for people to take charge and stick to social distancing and wear masks even if vaccinated,” said Binod Patro, additional professor of community medicine and dean (research) at AIIMS Bhubaneswar.
Patro observed that since Bhubaneswar, which has vaccinated most of its people with two doses of the vaccine, is reporting the highest number of new cases, most of them could be breakthrough infections. “Vaccinated people must keep in mind that they are equally vulnerable to infection, though severity of the disease would be less in them. In the process, they would spread to non-vaccinated people,” Patro said. In the state, so far 31,712 people tested positive after taking vaccine (0.18%), including 17,824 after first dose (0.13%) and 13,888 after both the doses (0.34%). Bhubaneswar has reported 4,693 infections after both doses (0.63%). Ajay Parida, director of Institute of Life Sciences, said the three-day trend is not enough to conclude that cases are rising. “One has to wait for two to three more days to see if there is further increase,” he said.
Authorities said the government has been maintaining a close watch on the situation. “In case of any clustering of cases, there will be quick containment measures. The collectors have been asked not to reduce the testing targets set for districts so that infections are not missed,” additional chief secretary (health), Pradipta Kumar Mohapatra said.
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