State Amps Up Emergency Steps as Gastro Toll Now 21

Health dept has put toll at 11, says remaining cases are under verification

- EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Bhubaneswar

WITH the diarrhoea outbreak continuing to sweep across eight districts in Odisha, the state government on Tuesday stepped up emergency response measures, deploying 20 mobile health teams for treatment and door-to-door awareness campaigns.

Though the outbreak has reportedly claimed 21 lives with four deaths reported on the day, officials of the Health department put the toll at 11. Authorities said the remaining cases are under verification. The number of affected people has also gone up to 2,200, as per official records.

Health department officials said four teams of specialists, comprising senior health department officials, experts from various wings and health advisors have been deployed in worst-hit Bhuban, Banki, Dharmasala, Badachana and Bhandaripokhari blocks in Dhenkanal, Cuttack, Jajpur and Bhadrak districts respectively.