BHUBANESWAR:
BHUBANESWAR: In a massive jump, Odisha on Friday recorded 561 Covid- 19 positive cases - the biggest single day spike so far - pushing the total number of cases beyond the 8,000 mark.
With the fresh cases spread across 19 districts, 425 were from quarantine centres and 136 local cases. Ganjam contributed the maximum 283 cases with its tally going up to 1,850, while Cuttack reported 81, Rayagada 76, Khurda 26, Bargarh 21, Balangir 19 and Mayurbhanj 10 cases.
Official sources said, 77 cases were detected from three premier hospitals in the State - Acharya Harihar Post Graduate Institute of Cancer (55) and SCB Medical College and Hospital (11) at Cuttack and AIIMSBhubaneswar (11). Two more persons also succumbed to the highly infectious disease taking the death toll to 29 in the State. Both men, aged 66 and 40 were from Ganjam district. While one was suffering from hypertension, another was diabetic. The total deaths have rose to 29 with 17 from Ganjam, five from Khurda, four from Cuttack and one each from Puri, Bargarh and Angul.
At least 15 among them were aged above 60 years. A three-member family in Bijaypur village under Gunupur sub-division in Rayagada district has been found to have infected 90 persons in the area. While 74 persons, who had come in contact with the family, were confirmed positive on Thursday, 13 others were infected earlier.
The family had recently returned from Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu. As the cases soared rapidly, State Covid spokesperson Subroto Bagchi warned people of tough action. Referring to instances of people violating home quarantine and not adhering to safety protocols, he said if people continue with their irresponsible behaviour, the Government will be forced to take more stringent steps than earlier.
“The threat is rising. We must follow guidelines and remain vigilant. Jumping home quarantine means you are slipping into the clutches of Yama, the God of death,” he warned. On the day, 203 patients from 20 districts also recovered. Of the 8,106 confirmed cases in the State, 5,704 persons have recovered so far. There are 2,364 active cases at present. With 6,851 tests conducted in the last 24 hours, as many as 2,81,523 samples have been tested so far.
Thirteen districts have more than 200 cases. Khurda has 894, Cuttack 702, Jajpur 540, Gajapati 442, Balasore 377, Jagatsinghpur 305, Puri 273, Kendrapara 253, Bhadrak 233, Mayurbhanj 225, Sundargarh 220 and Balangir 213.
