Five new COVID-19 cases were detected in Balasore district, taking Odisha’s total to 108, the State government said on Monday.

While 72 patients are under treatment at different hospitals, 35 have recovered and one has died in the State till date.

Interactive map of confirmed coronavirus cases in India

The five new cases included four women aged between 22 and 55 and a 27-year-old man. All had mild symptoms and were under home quarantine, the government said.

The districts of Balasore, Bhadrak and Jajpur, adjacent to each other and close to West Bengal, have emerged as the second COVID-19 hotspot in Odisha. While 15 cases have been reported from Balasore, 16 have been detected in Bhadrak and 18 in Jajpur.

A total of 44 cases have been reported from this cluster during the past eight days. They include those who returned from the neighbouring State during the ongoing lockdown and their close contacts.

The capital city was the first hotspot that reported 46 cases by April 14. The city has not reported any new case since then.

60-hour shutdown

With the number of cases rising in the three districts, the State government had ordered a 60-hour-long shutdown from 10 p.m. on Thursday to contain the spread of the pandemic.

Though the shutdown ended on Sunday morning, several blocks in Jajpur district were declared containment zones following the detection of six new cases.

The areas where new cases were reported in Balasore were declared containment zones on Monday, according to officials.

Many asymptomatic

What has added to the administration’s worry is that a majority of people testing positive were asymptomatic and some of them were found positive after completion of their 14-day quarantine.

A 50-year-old man of Jajpur district, who returned from West Bengal on March 29, had stayed in home quarantine till April 11. He was asymptomatic and stayed at home after quarantine. But the man was found positive on April 25 when his sample was tested due to travel history, according to the government.