Coronavirus: Odisha reports 77 fresh Covid-19 positive cases, including 18 cancer patients

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Bhubaneswar: Odisha reported 77 fresh coronavirus disease (Covid-19) positive cases on Thursday evening, including 18 cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy.

The state government is worried about the fresh cases of viral outbreak, especially among the frontline healthcare workers battling the pandemic.

State government officials said of the 77 new Covid-19 positive cases, 55 were reported from Acharya Harihar Regional Cancer Centre in Cuttack; 11 each from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Bhubaneswar; and SCB Medical College and Hospital, Cuttack.

In Rourkela’s Ispat General Hospital, a patient, who was undergoing treatment, tested Covid-19 positive after he passed away.

Acharya Harihar Regional Cancer Centre’s 36 healthcare attendants have tested Covid-19 positive along with 18 patients undergoing chemotherapy.

A staff nurse at the hospital also found to be infected with SARS-CoV-2, which causes Covid-19.

Earlier, 16 people, including five patients at the cancer hospital, had tested Covid-19 positive after a patient from Ganjam district, who was admitted to the emergency ward of the hospital on June 15, found to be infected nine days later.

On Thursday, the panic-stricken hospital authorities shut down the outpatient department (OPD) facility, much to the distress of hundreds of patients in dire need of chemotherapy sessions.

Similarly, 11 people, including a mother and her 10-month-old son, tested Covid-19 positive at SCB Medical College and Hospital, Cuttack.

A lady doctor, working as an intern at SCB Dental College, also found to be suffering from the viral infection on Tuesday.

At AIIMS, Bhubaneswar, 11 patients in the pulmonary department have tested Covid-19 positive.

Doctors at the hospital expressed concern over contracting the infection, as the authorities are yet to issue a standard operating procedure (SOP) for treating OPD patients.

In June alone, 40 frontline doctors and nurses have tested Covid-19 positive amid a lack of SOP guidelines in the government-run healthcare facilities.

However, the state government has issued an SOP for private hospitals following the detection of 40-odd Covid-19 positive cases from a Bhubaneswar-based private hospital.