COVID-19 not cricket, don t seek ball-by-ball account: Odisha govt tells media personnel

Bhubaneswar, Apr 9 () The Odisha government onThursday said that it is not mandatory to share allinformation regarding COVID-19 patients with the media andasked reporters not to seek a ball-by-ball account of all thepositive cases.

The governments COVID-19 spokesperson Subroto Bagchisaid this while addressing the daily media briefing here.

COVID-19 is not a cricket match that one will seek aball-by-ball account. It is a very serious matter dealing withthe lives of human beings, Bagchi said.

Noting that he was asked 13 questions by a televisionchannel on Wednesday, Bagchi said, We will reply to relevantquestions made on sample testing issue tomorrow. However, notball-by-ball account of the cases.

Bagchis reaction came in the backdrop of sometelevision channels raising questions on the exact number ofCOVID-19 patients in Bomikhal in the state capital.

While the Health and Family Welfare Department tillTuesday claimed that there were 18 COVID-19 positive cases inBomikhal, it suddenly reduced the number to 14 on Wednesday.

The remaining four were shown to have been reportedfrom Satya Nagar area, which was declared a containment Zoneon Wednesday morning.

The media had raised questions on the matter.

Reiterating that COVID-19 is not an IPL match or aone-day cricket match, Bagchi said this is not the time togive the review and even slow-motion picture of thecoronavirus cases.

It is another matter that Odisha has so far reported44 COVID-19 cases. If the number becomes 400, let it nothappen here by Gods grace, is it possible to give details ofeach case, Bagchi said, justifying the government's decisionof not revealing details of COVID-19 patients.

We are committed to sharing useful information withmedia and the people, please do not review every case. Thegovernment will reveal the right information at theappropriate time, he said.

During the extraordinary time, it is not possible aswell as required to share all information, he said, addingthat information related to public good will be shared withmedia.

The information which is not for public good, willnot be shared, he said.

He said the government had earlier shared details of aCOVID-19 patient with the media as it was for public good.

We will not share any information regarding the caseswhich are not for public good, Bagchi said. AAMSBN SBN