The Odisha government on Friday ordered the suspension of village health and sanitation days and the immunisation drive for four weeks in any village or urban areas where Covid-19 positive cases have been detected.
In a letter to all district health authorities, director of National Health Mission Shalini Pandit said the earlier order of maintaining social distancing in village sub-centres during immunisation and sanitation drives was being amended because of the rise in Covid 19 cases. Odisha has so far seen 48 positive cases.
The Village Health, Sanitation and Nutrition Day is organised once every month in village Anganwadi to expand the reach of health, early childhood development, nutrition and sanitation services to millions of households and contribute towards their well-being. The session is conducted for a minimum of 4 hours and is attended by multi-purpose workers, Accredited Social Health Activists, Anganwadi workers, and Anganwadi Helpers.
Meanwhile, the government disclosed that two minor girls from Jharpara area in Bhubaneswar, one aged 5 years and another 9 years, have tested positive for Covid-19. Their 37-year-old mother has also tested positive. Officials said the girls were the granddaughters of the 72-year-old man who died on April 6 at AIIMS Bhubaneswar and later tested positive for Covid 19 while the woman was his daughter-in-law.
Revealing their travel history, the state health and family welfare department said the two minor girls and their mother remained at home along with the 72-year-old man between March 22 and April 3. On April 4 and 5, they visited AIIMS Bhubaneswar to see their grandfather in the hospital. After their hospital visit, they remained in home quarantine between April 6 and 9. Their samples collected on April 8, as part of contact tracing, came positive for Covid-19 on April 9. They were admitted to KIMS Covid Hospital on April 10.
However, Dr Binod Patro, head of Covid-19 at AIIMS Bhubaneswar said the two children did not visit their grandfather in the hospital. “We have checked the CCTV camera feeds of the day and there is no presence of the children,” he said.
In a related development, the state government demanded that the Centre provide more funds as well more Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for doctors and healthcare workers engaged for patients with suspected or confirmed Covid-19 infection.
In a high-level meeting held through a video conferencing programme, state health and family welfare minister Naba Kishore Das urged Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan to release more funds for the state amid the coronavirus crisis. So far, the Centre has approved Rs 46.35 crore for Odisha in its battle against Covid-19. Das demanded at least 5 lakh PPE, an adequate quantity of Hydroxychloroquine and Vitamin-C tablets, masks and hand sanitisers for the state. He also urged the Centre to provide Covid-19 RT-PCR testing kits and sought the permission for state-run medical institutions, including VIMSAR in Burla, Bhima Bhoi Medical College & Hospital in Balangir and SLN Medical College & Hospital in Koraput, to set up a laboratory for Covid-19 test in Odisha.
He also sought Cobas 6800, the automated testing machine capable of conducting Covid-19 tests of more number of samples, for the laboratories approved by ICMR-RMRC.
The developments come on the day when 10 Covid-29 positive patients were discharged from various hospitals, taking the total number of recovered patients in the state to 12. Yesterday, two more positive cases were reported from Bhubaneswar taking the total number of positive cases to 50.
