Need to stay careful despite drop in Covid cases, says RMRC head

Bhubaneswar: Though the shadow of Covid-19 has been on the wane and things appear to be veering towards the old normal after two years, however, there is every need to be circumspect in our daily life, Prof. Sanghamitra Pati, director of the Regional Medical Research Centre (RMRC) here said on Tuesday.

There was every reason to be careful and continue with Covid appropriate behaviour including use of mask and social distancing, she said while speaking at the inaugural function of a two-day national conference on ‘Qualitative research methodology: Exploring the innovative spectrum’ organised at the SUM Nursing College (SNC), faculty of nursing of SOA Deemed to be University.

“The importance of qualitative research in the light of the pandemic that swept through the world cannot be undermined,” she said.

SOA vice-chancellor, Prof. (Dr.) Ashok Kumar Mahapatra, who also addressed the inaugural session, heaped praise on the nurses for their exceptional role in providing treatment to Covid patients when two successive waves swept the country.

Stating that there was acute shortage of doctors and nurses in the country, Prof. (Dr.) Mahapatra said India needed 12 lakh doctors and 20 lakh nurses in the healthcare sector.

Prof. Amrita Lenka, secretary of the Odisha chapter of SOMI and Dr. Mamatha Shivananda Pai, professor, Department of Child Health Nursing, Manipal College of Nursing, who were guests on the occasion, also outlined their views on the subject.

Prof. Pravati Tripathy, dean of SNC, Dr. Sasmita Das, associate dean and assistant professor, Krishna Samantaray also spoke.