BHUBANESWAR: On a day Odisha saluted the spirit of Covid-19 warriors, four frontline workers were among the 120 who tested positive for the virus on Saturday in the single biggest spike the state has seen so far. The surge saw the number of positive cases climb to 1,843.
Among those infected are a nurse, an ASHA, an anganwadi worker and a sweeper. All of them belong to Marsaghai panchayat of Kendrapada district.
“All roads leading to Marsaghai have been sealed.
Five wards have been declared containment zone,” Kendrapada collector Samarth Verma said. The administration will undertake contact tracing in the area, authorities said. Kendrapada reported 14 cases on the day, raising the district total to 75.
The other positive cases were spread across 17 districts — Sundargarh (13) Nuapada (12), Gajapati (10), Khurda (9), seven each in Balangir and Bhadrak, six each from Cuttack, Ganjam, Jajpur and Jagatsinghpur, five in Kalahandi, four each from Balasore and Deogarh, two from Dhenkanal and one each from Keonjhar, Nayagarh and Puri. The number of positive cases in Ganjam is now 404 after it reported six new cases.
According to the health department, 96 of those who tested positive are all from quarantine centres. These exclude eight cases from Nuapada and six each from Sundargarh and Bargarh whose details were yet to be shared, besides the four frontline workers from Kendrapada.
On the positive side, 73 more Covid-19 patients recovered and were discharged from hospitals, raising the total number of cured to 1,050.
(With inputs from Ashis Senapati in Kendrapada)