More than 85 percent of rural Ganjam is in green zone and the recovery rate in Ganjam is much higher than the national average, said Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today.

Ganjam is the epicentre of the pandemic in Odisha with the highest caseload and fatalities as well. Odisha government has come in for sharp criticism for its inability to tackle the spiralling cases in the district triggered initially by a hasty facilitation of bus loads of migrant returnees from Surat in Gujrat.

A couple of days ago the state BJP said it was high time for the CM to request for central intervention as had been done by the Delhi government. Perhaps sensing that it was high time to put forth his government’s achievements in combating the virus in the district, CM Naveen Patnaik opened two new standalone COVID hospitals in the district via video conference.

He pointed out that besides the high recovery rate , the positivity rate in the district has also shown a downward trend. My government will leave no stone unturned in fighting the pandemic and saving lives, said the CM. He referred to the success of plasma therapy in the district.

The two new standalone COVID Hospitals will definitely strengthen our hands in the fight against Covid in the district, he said. He did concede that lakhs of migrants living outside Odisha had returned to Ganjam district , specially from hotspot areas. However, the dedication and sacrifice of our Covid warriors, cooperation and support from people of Ganjam district, the district is fighting the pandemic very well, he said.

The CM iterated the only way to effectively fight this pandemic is through using Mask, following social distance norms and other Government regulations.

As per official information, till Saturday Ganjam had reported 10672 positive cases and 99 deaths related to COVID-19. Ganjam district administration has decided to keep borders of the district sealed during the Unlock-3 process in August.

Berhampur Municipal Corporation (BeMC) region will also be a restricted zone with restrictions on ‘in and out’ movements of citizens, except for urgent needs.

In August, the district will have weekend shutdown on Saturdays and Sundays. On all other days of the week, shops and trading will be allowed from 5AM to 4PM.

The collector Vijay Amruta Kulange claimed that the situation was under control in Ganjam and 7130 persons infected by the corona virus had been cured, which is 69 percent of the total number of persons reported positive till date.

The daily average testing during the past week in Ganjam district was around 469 per day. Each of the two newly inaugurated COVID hospitals have 150 bedded with 24 ICUs. One of them is to function on MKCG Medical College and Hospital campus in Berhampur and it is a complete government health facility. The other one, Ashwini COVID Hospital at Kanisi on the outskirts of Berhampur has been established on PPP mode to function as an extension of the hospital at MKCG Medical College.

These two COVID hospitals add up to the existing Tata Steel Medica COVID Hospital with 200 beds at Sitalapalli near Berhampur. District collector Vijay Amruta Kulange informed that the district has facility of 3750 beds in COVID Care Centres (CCC) and 5000 beds in COVID Care Homes (CRH).