Odisha records 1K Covid deaths in 74 days

BHUBANESWAR: The rise in deaths related to Covid-19 despite a steady decline in new cases has become a cause of worry for the State government. As per an analysis of the infection pattern, the case fatality rate (CFR) doubled in last fortnight as it rose from 0.64 per cent (pc) to 1.11 pc whereas the daily test positivity rate (TPR) has come down from 4.17 pc to 1.85 pc. The State recorded 18,543 new cases and 207 deaths during the 15-day period.  

The deaths continued unabated with 17 more patients succumbing to the disease in last 24 hours. With this, the death toll soared to 1,527, which excludes death of 53 persons, who had other underlying diseases.

Over 1,000 deaths were registered in 74 days in the State that recorded first 500 deaths in 169 days. The last 500 deaths came in only 35 days. Odisha is one of the few states where Covid fatality is on constant rise despite the fall in rate of infection. While the average daily count of new cases declined from over 2,000 to 1,236, Covid deaths went up from on an average 10 a day to 13.8.

Health authorities, however, claimed that all the patients succumbed in November may not be tested positive in the month. “Most of the deaths reported in the State are of patients aged between 45 to 60 and above 60 years. A majority among them are dying after a prolonged hospitalisation of more than four weeks,” said a senior health official.

Virologists and health experts warned that the rate of infection may have declined due to compliance of safety protocol, but neither the virus nor its virulence has changed. 

Meanwhile, the active cases in the State came down below 10,000 after 1,346 patients recovered on Sunday. The State reported 753 new cases, the lowest since July 18. The number of active cases stands at 9,217.