This story is from August 22, 2020

Odisha behind national average in Covid cure, but better in tests

Recovery of patients in Odisha from Covid-19 is slower than the national average. The state’s recovery rate is 69.4% compared to the national average of 74.3%, the Union health ministry data released on Friday shows. The state, however, is second only to Goa in conducting the number of tests on samples in proportion to the population.
Odisha behind national average in Covid cure, but better in tests
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BHUBANESWAR: Recovery of patients in Odisha from Covid-19 is slower than the national average. The state’s recovery rate is 69.4% compared to the national average of 74.3%, the Union health ministry data released on Friday shows. The state, however, is second only to Goa in conducting the number of tests on samples in proportion to the population.
Ten states and Union Territories have recovery rate (percentage of patients recovered) higher than the national average with Delhi leading the list with 90.1% cured.
Among Odisha’s neighbouring states, the recovery rate in Chhattisgarh (63.8%) and Jharkhand (63.5%) are lower than the state while those of West Bengal (76.5%) and Andhra Pradesh (72.3%) are better.
States such as Assam (73.4%), Andhra Pradesh (72.3%), Maharashtra (71.4%) and Uttar Pradesh (70.3%) have recovery lower than the national average but better than Odisha’s, the health ministry figures show while Bihar (76.3%) has better recovery rate than the all-India average.
Odisha has been conducting 1265 tests per million, which is second only to Goa. The national average is 580 per million. Chhattisgarh (225), Jharkhand (332), West Bengal (365) and Andhra Pradesh are conducting far less tests per million.
‘Due to high number of tests, active patient count increasing’
Explaining the Odisha situation, Jayant Panda, government’s technical adviser on Covid-19, said because of very high number of tests, the active patient count has been increasing. More active patients would mean the recovery figures would be less.
“However, this is not a reason to worry about as we are tracing more and more people and bringing them under isolation. This will help prevent further spread,” Panda said.

“Though for now the recovery rate may look comparatively lower, the aggressive testing leading to early identification and isolation of Covid positive persons will help reduce deaths,” he added.
Ajay Parida, director of Institute of Life Sciences, said the recovery rate is not that alarmingly low. “In the worst-affected Ganjam district, the recovery rate is around 80%. Moreover, the positivity rate in state has fallen below 5%. This shows that the Covid management is on the right track.”
Odisha has so far conducted tests on 11.72 lakh samples. The state has been testing more than 50,000 samples on an average per day for the past one week.
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About the Author
Ashok Pradhan

Ashok Pradhan is currently chief of bureau The Times of India in Bhubaneswar. He is an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Mass Communication, Dhenkanal (1999-2000).

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