Bhubaneswar: Sundargarh district on Friday reported 224 new cases, the highest on a day Covid infections in the state went past 1000 for the first time in over four months. Odisha registered 1282 cases in the last 24 hours, taking the total caseload to 3,46,808. The last time it had gone past the 1000-mark was on November 13.
Sundargarh has gone past Khurda district’s 192 cases on the day as well as its previous highest of 195, recorded on October 12 last year. “According to analysis, the district’s proximity to Chhattisgarh is responsible for the sudden surge,” said Sundargarh collector Nikhil Pavan Kalyan. With the government putting a ban on all forms of public transport to and from Chhattisgarh, there is hope that cases may go down in a few days.
Sundargarh’s Lephripara, Tangarpali, Subdega, Bargaon, Rajgangpur, Bisra and Lahunapada blocks have been reporting more than 100 cases each. Rajgangpur block has so far reported 812 cases, the highest in the district.
On Friday, Sundargarh broke another record by surpassing Khurda in terms of active cases. The western district now has 955 active cases, the highest, as against 922 in Khurda.
Among the 10 western districts where night curfew is in force, Kalahandi (108), Bargarh (84) and Sambalpur (82) have been witnessing steady rise in cases. Like Sundargarh, the other three, too, share border with Chhattisgarh.
With 3,38,890 recoveries and 1924 deaths, the state now has 5941 active cases. It has so far tested 93,047,12 samples. Khurda leads with 341 deaths.