Minister reviews alarming situation
Health Minister Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak on Monday reviewed the alarming situation arising out of the spread of dengue in the State at a high-level meeting here and directed his department’s officials to take effective steps to check the killer disease.
The Minister said blood samples of 4,140 people have been tested, out of which about 1,000 were found to be positive for the disease. Two people from Jagatsinghpur and Jajpur districts have died of dengue so far, he added.
Sources said 115 dengue patients are being treated at the SCB Medial College Hospital in Cuttack. Eight people were admitted to the ICU of the hospital due to their serious conditions. Further, the Minister said the maximum numbers of the dengue cases were reported from the Tata Steel plant area of Kalinganagar in Jajpur district.
The department has written a letter to the authorities of Tata Steel plant to take appropriate measures after getting a report from a special team sent by the State Government and to review the situation, the Minister added.
Informing that there are so far 380 suspected cases of dengue in Jajpur district, Chief District Medical Officer (CDMO) Dr Debendra Kumar Jena said, “In the Kalinganagar industrial area alone, 280 such cases have been reported. The Tata Steel plant is responsible for the spread of dengue in the district as the plant authorities have failed to clean the environment. Thousands of iron slabs and other machinery parts are littered in the plant areas. The unhealthy environment and stagnant water in the plant have been a breeding ground for dengue virus-carrying mosquitoes. We warned the plant officials umpteen times to clean the environment, but they did not pay any heed to our pleas.”