COVID-19 situation remains grim as Odisha logs 1,379 new cases

BHUBANESWAR: The COVID-19 situation continued to remain grim as the state logged 1,379 new cases in last 24 hours on Saturday. The new cases remained above 1000 for the third consecutive day pushing the active cases close to 8000.

As many as 1282 cases were registered on Friday and 1374 cases on Saturday. Out of the fresh cases spread across 30 districts, 808 were in quarantine and 571 local infections.

Sundargarh recorded the highest 317 cases, while Khurda reported 158 cases. The state conducted 31,651 tests during the period. The test positivity rate stands at 4.35 per cent (pc).

The districts bordering Chhattisgarh continued to fuel the number of infections in the state. Apart from Sundargarh, 90 cases detected in Nuapada, 71 in Nabarangpur, 68 in Bargarh, 42 in Jharsuguda and 30 in Kalahandi. Eight districts reported 631 cases accounting for 45.75 per cent of the day’s count.

Among other districts, the resurgence has also been witnessed in Khurda, Sambalpur, Cuttack, Balangir, Mayurbhanj, Puri, Bhadrak, Balasore, Ganjam and Keonjhar as the districts registered 158, 86, 56, 54, 49, 43, 36, 33, 31 and 30 cases respectively.

Nine jail inmates, including six from R Udaygiri sub-jail and three from Paralakhemundi sub-jail in Gajapati district, have tested positive for Covid-19. They have been admitted to a Covid hospital.

Commerce and Transport Minister Padmanabh Behera said RTOs have intensified enforcement in areas bordering Chhattisgarh which has emerged as epicenter of coronavirus resurgence. RT-PCR negative report has been made mandatory for those entering Odisha, he said.

Bhubaneswar recorded 148 more cases taking the active cases to 977. New clusters emerged at Khandagiri and Pokhariput area as the two localities reported 15 and 11 cases respectively.

With the new cases, the active cases climbed to 1496 in Sundargarh, 1105 in Khurda, 468 in Kalahandi, 465 in Nuapada, 424 in Sambalpur, 401 in Bargarh, 373 in Cuttack, 273 in Puri and 253 in Jharsuguda.

The Covid tally in the state mounted to 3,49,561 of which 3,39,603 have recovered and 1926 succumbed. So far, 93,70,359 tests have been conducted.