Stricter curbs as Covid-19 cases may peak in June, says Odisha govt

BHUBANESWAR: The Odisha government on Tuesday justified stricter curbs in June, which will take the form of total weekend shutdowns in 11 districts and 10-hour night curfew across the state, as it fears that Covid-19 cases could peak this month. The government also revealed it had considered a total shutdown of the state for two or three weeks, and decided against it for the sake of livelihoods.
“We thought about all the options before us, given that Odisha will face its toughest period now. One danger is from the 4.5 lakh people who have returned to the state; another is the onset of monsoon around June 10, which is expected to bring about a spike in cases of severe acquired respiratory syndromes and influenza,” said V K Pandian, secretary, transformation and Initiatives (5T), said, while interacting with mediapersons.
The senior bureaucrat said the number of positive cases would go up because the people who had returned to Odisha had arrived from badly affected states like Gujarat and Maharashtra. “Every day, around 20,000 people are being discharged from quarantine centres and are going back into the community. We are a receiving state and should avoid a situation in which Covid numbers go through the roof,” Pandian added.
The following 21 days were critical in the state’s fight against the pandemic, Pandian said and added that the government had mulled different possibilities before deciding on weekend shutdowns. “We thought what if we completely shut down for two to three weeks? But that would be really bad. It would kill industries. We went for the next-best alternative,” he explained.
“People can work for their livelihood and make some sacrifice. That is why we went ahead with 10-hour night curfew and weekends shutdown in 11 districts that have received most of the returned workers and also account for most of the positive cases,” Pandian said.
“For most people, Saturdays and Sundays are for recreation. If we prevent people from moving out for seven of the next 28 days, the number of infections prevented will be huge,” he said.
Meanwhile, 141 more tested positive for the virus, taking state total to 2,245 while 80 more patients recovered, raising the number of cured to 1,325. The state’s recovery rate further improved to 0.59%.
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