Bhubaneswar: Observing an exponential increase in COVID cases here, Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC), Saturday, stated that the city has now entered ‘critical’ phase. It projected that the state capital will have 5,000 active cases by mid-September.
Addressing a press conference here, BMC Commissioner, Prem Chandra Chaudhary said that they are working out on two scenarios; the first: active cases are expected to increase to 3,429 by August end. According to the second scenario there could be 5,000 cases by September 15.
“Positivity rate under the BMC jurisdiction has risen to 10 pc with more than 300 cases being observed daily. COVID in Bhubaneswar has attained its peak and coming one month will be critical. The rise in cases is mainly due to increased testing and commercial activities resuming,” Chaudhary highlighted.
Detailing about the preparedness against the upcoming surge, the Commissioner stated that the BMC has done a backhand calculation of the available COVID facilities.
He further informed that the city is “in a comfortable position” as far as availability of beds is concerned.
Comparing Bhubaneswar with other cities on basis of sero-surveillance results, Chaudhary mentioned that the city still remains the “best protected capital cities.” “While antibody development in the survey in other cities has been found close to 29 pc, it remains only 1.24 pc here,” he said.
However, describing the coming period as challenging, the Commissioner requested denizens to strictly follow the COVID guidelines of social distancing and wearing masks. “Ahead of Ganesh Chaturthi, mass violations were observed. Thus, I advise people to personally adhere to COVID norms for their own safety,” he concluded.
