Odisha CM warns citizens of lockdown amid COVID violations; estimates early 3rd wave

Warning citizens of violations, Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday, stated that the government will be forced to impose lockdown in the third wave if people's carelessness continues. Reminding that while Odisha was spared from a harsh second COVID wave, he warned that scientists have estimated an early third wave. India, currently has 4,10,353 active COVID cases, 30,933,022 recovered cases and 4,25,757 deaths. 

Odisha CM warns of lockdown

"Odisha didn't face the situation that many other states faced during the 2nd wave of COVID-19. 3rd wave can hit early as scientists have warned. Govt will be forced to declare complete lockdown if it feels that people aren't following COVID protocols properly," said CM Naveen Patnaik.

Odisha COVID situation

As of Wednesday, Odisha's COVID-19 tally rose to 9,82,181 with 1,315 new cases, while 66 fresh fatalities pushed the state's coronavirus death toll to 6,168, a health official said. As many as 762 new cases were reported in quarantine centres, while 553 infections were detected during contact tracing, he said, adding that the single-day positivity rate was at 2.01 per cent. The state now has 13,872 active cases, while 9,62,088 people have recovered from the disease so far, including 1,702 on Tuesday. Fifty-three other coronavirus patients have died due to comorbidities to date.

Khurda district registered the highest number of new cases at 413, followed by Cuttack (198). Khurda also reported the highest number of fresh fatalities at 18 (including 11 in Bhubaneswar), followed by Cuttack (10) and Puri (nine). The state has thus far tested over 1.62 crore samples for COVID-19, including 65,209 in the last 24 hours. The cumulative positivity rate stood at 6.02 per cent.

Recently, Odisha held the Jagannath Yatra without devotees under strict COVID conditions for the second year in succession. The state govt made elaborate arrangements for a live telecast of the festival and those who took part in the rituals had undergone RT-PCR tests and tested negative for COVID-19, while the servitors who were present during the event were fully vaccinated. The Puri Jagannath temple too was kept out of bounds for devotees till July 25.