BHUBANESWAR: The
Covid death rate has started going up in the state. Four patients died in the past 24 hours, taking the total Covid deaths to 1,942.
The four fatalities were reported from Balangir, Jharsuguda, Kalahandi and Sambalpur.
The state was was reporting one death daily since the start of the second wave, but this has changed now.
The state reported two Covid deaths a day on April 10, when it reported 1,374 infections. A day before (April 9), the Covid tally had touched the 1,000-mark. On April 14, the daily deaths rose to three with the infection count crossing the 2,000-mark.
Ajay Parida, director at the
Institute of Life Sciences (ILS), said the death rate was not alarming yet because of past experience past and better health infrastructure. “We are not sure whether the mutated virus is causing more fatalities. Compared to the death count last year in proportion to the daily infection count, this year’s death figure is not worrisome yet. However, it is better for people with comorbidities to take precautions,” he said.
The state on Saturday saw 3,144 new cases, with Sundargarh district reporting the highest of 523 cases. Khurda’s count (497) has gone down marginally. The state also reported 952 recoveries, the highest a day this year.
The 10 western
Odisha districts, where weekend shutdown began on Saturday, have together reported 1,508 cases. Nuapada reported 395 cases, its highest so far. This it did despite the district banning public transport to and from
Chhattisgarh. Trains however are still running between the states.
Odisha on Saturday tested 37,245 samples, 5,000 more than the previous day. Of these, 3,144 returned positive. This marked a slight decline in the positivity rate compared to that of the past five days. The average positivity rate over the past five days was 10 per cent. On Saturday, it came down to 8.44 per cent.
With 1,942 deaths and 3,43,522 recoveries, the state now has 19,077 active cases. Its total case count rose to 3,64,594.