New COVID-19 cases from cyclone-hit districts add to Odisha's state tally

BHUBANESWAR:  The tall claims of the State government on improved care in Covid hospitals notwithstanding, the fatality rate continued to rise in Odisha with 33 more succumbing to the disease in the last 24 hours.

According to the State dashboard, the highest of five fatalities were reported from Angul, followed by four from Sundargarh, three each from Kalahandi, Khurda, Keonjhar and Boudh. Similarly, two each from Rayagada, Gajapati, Jharsuguda, Kendrapara and Koraput districts and one each from Dhenkanal and Nabarangpur fell to the disease. While 28 persons among them including 11 women had no comorbidities, the youngest was a 22-year-old from Angul. With this, the cumulative death toll rose to 2,651. 

Additional Chief Secretary of Health PK Mohapatra said most of the deceased had ignored their symptoms and tested for the disease  late. “By the time they seek medical attention, their condition turns serious. That is why we have been urging people to come forward for tests and treatment and not ignore any symptom,” he said. As many as 7,216 more people tested positive for the infection.

The number of fresh cases was below the 10,000 mark for the second consecutive day due to the drop in testing for the cyclone. While 4,041 new cases were in quarantine, 3,175 people were detected positive during contact tracing. Cuttack reported the highest number of new cases at 1,091, followed by Khurda (809) including 747 in Bhubaneswar, Kendrapara (487), Dhenkanal (428), Angul (409), Bargarh (331) and Bhadrak (246).

The Health department had tested 43,768 samples as against nearly 70,000 tests conducted two days back bringing down the test positivity rate from around 18 per cent (pc) to 16.4 pc. The TPR was highest at 60.5 pc in Kendrapara, followed by 42.8 pc in Dhenkanal, 38.5 pc in Bhadrak and 35 pc in Cuttack. 

The rise in cases in districts affected by the cyclone has put the health administration on tenterhooks. With the door-to-door survey commencing from Friday, the number of infections is expected to rise further.  The fresh cases took the tally to 7,39,955 of which 6,47,133, including 11,954 on Friday have recovered.