BHUBANESWAR : The Covid-19 situation continued to remain grim in Odisha as the State reported over 10,000 cases in seven of the last eight days, taking the active cases closer to one lakh. As many as 10,649 people tested positive for the virus and 19 persons succumbed in last 24 hours.
The test positivity rate (TPR), however, came down slightly to 20.7 per cent (pc) from 22.3 pc a day before as the number of tests rose to 51,451 including 17,659 RT-PCR tests. Odisha now has 91,648 active cases with the highest 13,740 in Khurda and 10,838 in Sundargarh.
Khurda recorded the highest 1,557 cases, including 1,108 from Bhubaneswar, followed by 930 from Cuttack, 774 from Sundargarh, 557 from Angul and 503 from Balasore. The West Bengal bordering Balasore has recorded over 500 cases for the first time.
At least 15 districts accounted for over 200 cases each. Of the fresh cases, 5,965 were in quarantine and 4,684 local infections. Even as new cases saw a decline in some western districts, the infection is on an upward spiral in districts like Cuttack, Angul, Balasore, Mayurbhanj, Nayagarh and Puri.
While the positivity rate in most of the districts bordering Chhattisgarh was above 20 pc, Boudh for the first time topped the list with a TPR of 42 pc. Of the 552 tests, including 342 through RT-PCR, 232 have been detected positive. Other 10 districts with high TPR included Sambalpur (39.1 pc), Angul (38.8 pc), Bargarh (31.1 pc), Kalahandi (30.8 pc), Nuapada (30.6 pc), Khurda (30.1 pc), Deogarh (28.8 pc), Sonepur (25.6 pc), Jharsuguda (25.4 pc) and Sundargarh (20.8 pc).
As per the statistics released by the Ministry of Health, 29 districts in the State have a positivity rate of above 10 pc in the week from May 6 to 12. At least 20 districts have a TPR of over 20 pc. Of the 526 districts in the country having a TPR of above 10 pc, 29 are from Odisha. Three deaths were reported from Angul district and two each from Sundargarh and Puri.
One patient each from Balasore, Bargah, Khurda, Balangir, Boudh, Ganjam, Jagatsinghpur, Kandhamal, Malkangiri, Nuapada, Rayagada and Sambalpur died of the disease. With this, the Covid-19 caseload in the State mounted to 5,76,297 and 19 fresh fatalities pushed the death toll to 2,251.
Oxygen shortage killed 15 patients: BJP
Bhubaneswar: The BJP on Thursday lodged an FIR against Keonjhar district collector Ashish Thakare and the medical officer of Covid hospital alleging “murder” of 15 Covid-19 patients undergoing treatment due to oxygen shortage. A five-member delegation of BJP visited the hospital where 15 Covid patients allegedly died due to disruption in oxygen supply