Dedicated COVID hospitals fully functional in all Odisha districts, says chief secretary

Bhubaneswar (Odisha) [India], January 19 (ANI): Odisha Chief Secretary Suresh Chandra Mohapatra said that "dedicated COVID hospitals" in all districts of the state are fully operational and all these facilities have sufficient and necessary medicines.
"As per the directions of the Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, the state government has taken steps to control the COVID-19 keeping in mind the livelihoods of the people, so we didn't impose a full lockdown, but people need to abide by COVID-19 appropriate behaviour", said the Chief Secretary on Wednesday.
"Odisha is reporting 10,000 plus cases regularly for the last 7 days. The number can go up if we don't follow COVID guidelines. As of now, only 10 per cent of hospital beds are occupied but that does not warrant any form of laxity."
"In this third wave, the hospitalization is around 2 per cent, while in the second and first wave 10 to 12 per cent were hospitalised. Similarly, the ICU and Oxygen requirement is also comparatively less, however, the elderly people, children and pregnant women need utmost care", Mahapatra observed.
As per the Department of Health and Family Welfare, the state government has set up Telemedicine Service for the people in home isolation due to COVID-19. This service will be provided through telemedicine call centres established in all District Headquarters Hospitals, Capital Hospital Bhubaneswar, RGH Rourkela and all Medical Hospitals & Hospitals in the state.
Meanwhile, Odisha logged 11,607 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, stated the health bulletin. (ANI)