BHUBANESWAR: The
Covid-19 tally in Odisha mounted to 3,45,526 on Thursday, as 879 more people tested positive for the infection, the highest single-day rise this year, a health department official said.
Of the new cases, 518 were reported in quarantine centres and 361 detected during contact tracing.
Khurda district comprising the state capital Bhubaneswar reported the highest number of new cases at 144, followed by Sundargarh (131), Nuapada (61), Bargarh (53) and Cuttack (50).
With the sudden rise of coronavirus infections in the state, the health department has asked the district authorities to strengthen infrastructure in Covid care centres and hospitals.
Active cases in Odisha jumped to 4,888 from just 665 on March 8, and 3,38,662 patients have so far recovered from the disease, the official said.
The death toll remained at 1,923 as no fresh fatality due to the infection was reported in the last 24 hours.
Fifty-three other Covid-19 patients have died due to comorbidities.
The state has so far conducted over 92.75 lakh sample tests for Covid-19, including 31,057 on Wednesday, and the positivity rate stands at 3.73 per cent.