Odisha sees highest single-day spike in Covid cases and death amid lockdown, active cases cross one lakh mark

Odisha is now one of the top five states in the country where the cases are rising. The infection rate has increased from 19 percent (pc) to 21.9 pc from May 11 to 22.
The cases came down from 491 on May 21 to 39, the next day, and then rose to 668 in Kalahandi district, which health experts said just impossible.
The cases came down from 491 on May 21 to 39, the next day, and then rose to 668 in Kalahandi district, which health experts said just impossible.

BHUBANESWAR: Lockdown with morning hours relaxation seems not to be yielding the desired result in Odisha as the State reported the highest single-day spike in both new cases and death in the last 24 hours pushing the active cases to cross one lakh mark for the first time.

Even 17 days after the ongoing lockdown, 12,852 fresh cases and 28 more fatalities were recorded during the day exposing the slack enforcement measures in different worst affected districts. A maximum of 67,156 tests, including 21,078 through RT-PCR were conducted during the period.

Odisha is now one of the top five states in the country where the cases are rising. The infection rate has increased from 19 percent (pc) to 21.9 pc from May 11 to 22.

While the number of cases in several coastal and central Odisha districts rose considerably, the western region, where cases had started declining, also saw the infection graph climbing further putting the local health administration on their toes.

Seven districts registered more than 500 cases each with Khurda topping the list at the highest 1,909 cases, followed by Cuttack (1,073), Angul (874), Sundargarh (848), Kalahandi (668), Mayurbhanj (586), and Balasore (508).

Apart from Sundargarh and Kalahandi, of the rest eight western Odisha districts, Bargarh, Jharsuguda, Sambalpur, Koraput, and Malkangiri also reported high numbers at 461, 399, 355, 272, and 114 respectively.

But unbelievable fluctuations in the number of cases in some districts indicated serious data manipulation by the State health administration. The cases came down from 491 on May 21 to 39, the next day, and then rose to 668 in Kalahandi district, which health experts said just impossible when the district is struggling with community transmission.

"How can the numbers fall from 491 to 39 and then increase to 668 in Kalahandi district when the number of testing ranges from 2500 to 3000?" wondered noted microbiologist Dr Tribhuban Mohan Mohapatra.

"There must be underreporting of cases, which should not be done," he warned.

The cases are also rising in Mayurbhanj, Balasore, Dhenkanal, Boudh and Nayagarh which were earlier reporting less. The Covid cases in 10 districts - Dhenkanal, Boudh, Koraput, Malkangiri, Jagatsinghpur, Mayurbhanj, Balasore, Nayagarh, Sonepur and Angul, where the R-value is more than one, are expected to rise further. The R value is 1.34 in Dhenkanal, 1.31 in Boudh and 1.3 each in Koraput and Malkangiri.

With this, the total number of confirmed cases soared to 6,92,382 of which 5,89,610 have been recovered and 2484 succumbed. The active cases stood at 1,00,235. As many as 14,894 patients have been hospitalised, including 2760 in ICUs and 695 on ventilators.

The disease has claimed 28 more lives, including five from Khurda, four each from Kalahandi and Sundargarh, three each from Angul and Kendrapara and two each from Puri, Nabarangpur and Rayagada.

Additional Chief Secretary of Health, PK Mohapatra said the cases are rising due to increased testing. There is no underreporting. The cases in two days might have been clubbed together, he reasoned.

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