Rourkela: The additional district magistrate (ADM) of Sundargarh, Dr Subhankar Mohapatra said Tuesday that the diarrhoea situation is improving in this town and the number of patients seeking admission to hospitals is slowly decreasing. However, he urged people to remain cautious and maintain personal hygiene. “The diarrhoea situation is improving given the discharge and admission rates, but we cannot lower our guard. Through the media, I request all to remain careful,” Mohapatra said at a press conference here Tuesday. “We have sufficient medicines to tackle the situation, so there is nothing to worry,” the ADM added. Mohapatra however, contradicted the death toll which has appeared in sections of the media.
“Officially we have reports of five deaths from the Rourkela Government Hospital. I cannot comment on the figures provided by private medical facilities,” Mohapatra informed. Mohapatra also talked about the number of patients admitted to various hospitals. “A total of 580 patients infected with diarrhoea have been admitted to hospitals. Out of them, 429 are from the Rourkela urban area. So far 244 patients have been discharged,” Mohapatra said. He added that the Ispat General Hospital (IGH) has kept five ICU beds reserved for diarrhoea-hit patients and Dr PK Mohapatra has been appointed as the nodal officer.
Mohapatra when asked about the reason behind the outbreak of the disease informed that investigations are still on. “However, stool samples suggest the presence of E Coli bacteria. Only after we have a final report we can give a proper explanation for the outbreak of the disease,” stated Mohapatra. Mohapatra however, gave a clean chit to WATCO when asked about the leaks found in some of the main water distribution pipes.