Bhubaneswar: The government hospitals in Cuttack, which is considered to be the medical hub of the state, has been responsible for most of the COVID-19 cases reported from the city, the Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) admitted Sunday.
Addressing a virtual press conference, CMC Commissioner Ananya Das cited data on the source of infections of the pandemic. The official said that till Sunday the city reported 248 cases of the viral disease and, out of these, 120 are from the Acharya Harihar Regional Cancer Centre (AHRCC) alone.
On the other hand, 18 COVID-19 cases were reported from the SCB Medical College in the city. According to data made available by her, 57 positive cases were reported from home quarantine and 35 from institutional quarantine centres. Eighteen COVID-19 patients were infected by local contacts.
“Out of the 248 cases detected in Cuttack, 120 are from AHRCC alone. One positive patient was detected in the hospital. During contact tracing we did close to 500 tests and ended up detecting 120 cases from the hospital. Many of them have now recovered. SCB Hospital too reported 18 cases,” she said.
Meanwhile, Das added that arrangements like antigen testing, isolation, and restricted OPD services are done in hospitals to reduce infections from hospitals. She also talked about the actions taken by the CMC against erring private hospitals for flouting rules regarding coronavirus spread.
“We have given the private hospitals guidelines on infection control. We have taken action against erring hospitals who flouted COVID-19 rules,” she said.
She appreciated the roles of Ward Committees and Sahi Committees in joining hands with the government in COVID-19 management as well as creating awareness. She also assured that all possible steps of surveillance and testing are being undertaken by the civic body to manage the disease.
Saurabh Garg, COVID-19 observer for Cuttack, informed the media that two more COVID hospitals are all set to become operational in the district soon.
“Right now we have two COVID-19 hospitals in the district. Two more – one at Athagarh and another at Tangi – are all set to come become operational soon. In rural Cuttack we have witnessed 750 cases. We are now ready with 339 COVID Care Centres to tackle the disease better,” he said.