Two health workers in Kendrapada among 105 new cases in Odisha

BHUBANESWAR: The state reported 105 Covid-19 cases in the past 24 hours on Sunday, taking the total number of infections to 1,948. Ten of those who tested positive are locals, including two health workers in temporary medical camps in Kendrapada. On Saturday, four health workers in the district had tested positive.
Among the fresh cases, the highest of 16 has been reported from Gajapati district, which now has 36 cases.Cases reported from the other districts include 14 in Kendrapada, 11 in Balangir, 10 each in Ganjam and Jajpur, seven in Khurda, six each in Mayurbhanj, Balasore and Bargarh, five in Cuttack, four each in Puri, Nuapada and Deogarh, three in Keonjhar, and one each in Dhenkanal, Sambalpur and Malkangiri.
The two health workers in Kendrapada who tested positive include a male health worker and a healthcare provider at a quarantine centre in Penthapala village under Pattamundai block. Earlier four health workers - a nurse, an ASHA, an anganwadi worker and a sweeper - of Marsaghai area in the district had tested positive. The number of Covid-19 infections in the district has jumped to 89, official sources said.
All roads leading to Penthapala gram panchayat have been sealed. Penthapala quarantine centre and its surroundings have been declared a containment zone. "We have asked residents to stay at home for the next 48 hours," said Samarth Verma, collector (Kendrapada).
Nikunja Bihari Dhal, principal secretary (health), said Covid-19 cases were doubling more quickly in Nuapada, Sambalpur, Kandhamal, Gajapati, Dhenkanal, Bargarh and Balangir districts, but added that this was due to higher number of tests. With 76 recoveries on Sunday, the number of cured patients in the state touched 1,126. Among the recovered patients 17 were from Kendrapada, 16 from Ganjam, 11 each from Nayagarh and Kalahandi, five from Jajpur, three each from Balasore and Mayurbhanj, two each from Angul and Jagatsinghpur and one each from Cuttack, Dhenkanal, Malkangiri, Puri, Sambalpur and Sundargarh.