COVID-19: Enhance sample testing capacity to 1,000 a day, Patnaik tells admin

With Odisha recording an almost eight-fold jump in coronavirus cases in five days, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday directed the administration to increase the state's capacity to test samples of persons suspected to be infected with novel coronavirus to 1,000 every day by April 10. He also asked the administration to increase the number of hospital beds for treatment of COVID-19 patients to 3,000 by April 15. The number of COVID-19 cases in the state soared from 5 on April 1 to 39 on April 5.

Patnaik reviewed the administration's preparedness to deal with coronavirus outbreak in the western and southern regions of the state through teleconference, state government spokesperson on COVID-19, Subroto Bagchi said. At present, the administration has a capacity to test 300 samples a day, he said. The samples are tested at RMRC and AIIMS, Bhubaneswar and SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack. The chief minister directed officials to conduct tests at VIMSAR, Burla in western Odisha and MKCG Medical College and Hospital, Berhampur in the southern part of the state, after securing permission from the ICMR, Bagchi said.

The state administration has prepared seven special COVID-19 hospitals so far with 1,497 beds while several other medical establishments are also being readied, he said. Patnaik also underlined the need for sufficient personal protective equipment (PPE), Bagchi said. Of the 39 COVID-19 cases reported in the state so far, only one is from Kalahandi district. The COVID-19 patient from the western Odisha district had recently returned from Bahrain. Meanwhile, the state government has imparted training to around 1,500 doctors, master trainers and medical students to treat COVID-19 patients in district hospitals, officials said. Similarly, training has also been imparted to 360 district and 2,264 block-level master trainers, they said.

(Image credits: PTI)