`Need to be prepared for possible third wave of infection`, Odisha Health Minister writes to Dr Harsh Vardhan

Odisha Health Minister Naba Kishore Das stated that India is witnessing a decreasing trend in new COVID positive cases and we need to be prepared for a possible third wave of infection.

Bhubaneswar: Odisha Health Minister Naba Kishore Das has written a letter to Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan highlighting that the states which floated global tenders are facing non-response of vaccine manufacturers. He also urged for procurement of global vaccines at the country-level, rather than individual States.

Odisha Health Minister Naba Kishore Das stated that India is witnessing a decreasing trend in new COVID positive cases, many countries across the world have faced multiple waves and we need to be prepared for a possible third wave of infection. 

Das also suggested that most experts have advised that vaccination is the main weapon to protect our people from subsequent waves of the pandemic and we need to scale up vaccination at the earliest. 

Odisha reported the highest single-day COVID-19 deaths on Tuesday (June 1) as 37 people lost their lives, taking the toll to 2,791, a Health Department official said.

The state also reported 8,735 new COVID-19 cases, pushing the tally to 7,73,732. These cases were detected after testing 62,293 samples. At present, there are 89,956 active cases in Odisha. In the last 24 hours, 10,405 people have recovered. The total recovery stands at 6,80,932.