BHUBANESWAR: The State on Thursday logged 25 deaths due to Covid-19, the highest single-day spike so far, as the daily caseload and positivity rate shot up again despite the lockdown. Odisha reported 11,489 fresh cases in the last 24 hours as against 11,099, 10,321 and 10,757 recorded on May 18, May 17 and May 16 respectively.
The rise in tests, notwithstanding, the TPR rose from 18.3 pc to 18.9 pc in a day indicating that the number of infections could be high if testing is accelerated. As many as 60,598 tests, including 18,150 through RT-PCR were conducted.
Of the new fatalities, four each were from Khurda and Kalahandi, three from Angul and two each from Ganjam, Rayagada and Sundargarh. One patient each in Boudh, Bargarh, Balasore, Cuttack, Puri, Dhenkanal, Balangir and Keonjhar succumbed to the disease.
Earlier, highest 22 deaths on a day were reported on three occasions this month.Even as the number of cases has slightly declined in western Odisha districts, the situation in coastal and central Odisha continued to remain grim with Khurda topping the infection tally with 1,497 followed by Cuttack (1,107), Angul (867) and Sundargarh (703).
As many as 21 of the 30 districts have more TPR than the State average during the week starting May 13. The infection rate is highest 36.5 pc in Bhadrak. With this, while the Covid-19 tally soared to 6,55,899, the total confirmed cases crossed one lakh mark in Khurda. In another incident, panic gripped the Bhadrak Hospital after a diesel generator caught fire due to an electric short circuit on Thursday. Though the blaze did not cause any major damage, power supply to the Covid ward was disrupted for a few hours.