Bhubaneswar, May 01 (UNI) The second wave of covid 19 saw an unprecedented rise of over 10 k positive cases in a single day in Odisha.
Health and Family Welfare department sources said the highest single-day record of 10,413 covid positive cases which included 5887 from quarantine centres and 4526 local contact cases, were reported from 30 districts in the past 24 hours.
The state which witnessed a jump of over 8,000 covid cases on April 28 and again on April 30, surpassed the 10,000-mark in the past 24 hours indicating a critical covid situation ahead in the state.
This is the biggest spike of covid cases in the state. As many as 19 districts in the state reported more than 100 new cases while seven of them registered over 400 cases in a single day.
Khordha district which has been at the top of the list reported the highest number of 1,796 cases followed bySundargarh (1,100), Puri (533), Bargarh (511), Jharsuguda (442), Sambalpur( 427 )and Nabarangpur ( 418).
At least 11 patients under treatment succumbed to the virus in the last 24 hours. They included four from Khordha district two from Sundargarh and one each from Boudh, Kalahandi, Koraput, Puri and Rayagada district
The covid positive tally in the State surged to 4,54,607 of which 3,85 414 have already been recovered and the death toll shut up 2,054. The active cases also witnessed a sharp rise of 67,086.
Meanwhile, the State government has constituted an Expert Committee for taking decisions on the use of Tocilizumab and other new drugs for the treatment of COVID19 patients.
The Committee will examine and assess the proposal of the use of such drugs on a case to case basis under the supervision of the Director of Medical Education and Training ( DMET).
Life in all the urban centres in the state came to a grinding halt today due to the weekend shutdown in force. An intense heatwave condition also sweeping the state for the past few days also forced the people to remain indoor.
Additional Chief Secretary, Health & Family Welfare Department Pradipta Kumar Mohapatra said, keeping in view the severe and more challenging second wave of Covid-19, the State Government has continued its effort in wartime footing to combat it.
He appealed to all to wear masks, maintain social distance and avoid crowds in community places.
The State Government, Mohapatra said, has ramped up testing with a target of 18,000 RT-PCR and 50000 Rapid Antigen Test daily. The Collectors and Authorities of Municipal Corporations have been asked to gear up Covid Care facilities.
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