Reactivated system to tackle rise in COVID-19 cases: Naveen Patnaik at meeting with PM

Bhubaneswar, Apr 09: We have reactivated our system to tackle the new rise in the Covid cases especially in districts bordering some states with high incidence of the virus, Chief Minister of Odisha, Naveen Patnaik said at the meeting held between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the chief ministers on Thursday evening.

We would request the Union Government for the following support in our Covid management, Patnaik also said.

We thank the Union Government for allowing the States, under SDRF guidelines, to spend up to 50% of the annual allocation for Covid-related activities during 2020-21. The same guidelines may be continued for the year 2021-22 as well, he also said.

During 2020-21, Odisha had requested for Rs 400 crores under Emergency Covid Response Plan (ECRP), but we received only Rs 146 crores. In view of the new wave of Covid, it is requested that at least Rs 300 crores be released to Odisha for 2021-22 for Covid Management, the Odisha CM further added.

He said that Odisha has been doing well in vaccination program with among the lowest wastage in the country and efficient system of administering the vaccine to eligible persons. We have not been able to ramp up the vaccination due to supply issues. We are currently able to vaccinate 2.5 lakh persons per day and have capability to increase further. We request that at least 10 days stock of the vaccines is ensured for Odisha.

The entire country has to put up a united front against this pandemic and we will continue to provide support in this fight, Patnaik said in his remarks at the meeting.