BHUBANESWAR: In yet another high, Odisha reported 6,164 new Covid-19 cases, a jump by nearly 27 per cent (pc) from the previous day’s count, pushing the active cases over 30,000.Khurda became the first district in the State to report Covid cases in four digits since the beginning of the pandemic. While the highest 1,132 infections were diagnosed in the district, Nuapada, Kalahandi, Sundargarh, Cuttack and Jharsuguda were among the worst-hit with 459, 452, 427, 360 and 355 cases respectively.
Seven persons succumbed to the disease during the period. Two deaths each were reported from Ganjam and Rayagada and one each from Kalahandi, Kandhamal and Khurda districts.Health department sources said of the fresh cases, 3,575 were detected among people in quarantine and 2,589 were local infections. The State conducted 42,983 tests, including 18,013 through RT-PCR and the test positivity rate stood at 14.34 pc.
Significant number of cases reported from other districts included 286 in Puri, 236 in Bargarh, 229 in Sambalpur, 226 in Balangir, 207 in Nabarangpur, 205 in Keonjhar, 154 in Jajpur, 136 each in Mayurbhanj and Angul, 135 in Ganjam and 105 in Rayagada.
While 18 districts accounted for 85 pc of the cases, 10 western Odisha districts bordering Chhattisgarh put together 2,652 cases contributing 43 pc of the fresh caseload. With more than 1,000 cases each, 11 districts, including eight border districts, have been categorised as Covid hotspots. Sundargarh, Nuapada, Kalahandi and Khurda are the worst-hit with most of the blocks registering more than 100 cases each. Khurda has the highest 5,748 active cases followed by 4,814 in Sundargarh, 1,919 in Cuttack, and 1,706 in Nuapada.