Covid cases drop amid cyclone, fatalities high in Odisha

6,736 people test positive, 34 succumb to the disease in the State in last 24 hours 
Representational Image. (Photo | PTI)
Representational Image. (Photo | PTI)

BHUBANESWAR :  Even as the Covid count saw a drop of 42 per cent (pc) amid the cyclone following a 300 per cent dip in the number of tests, fatalities remained high as 34 more succumbed to the disease in last 24 hours. With this, the Covid-19 toll mounted to 2,618. The highest five fatalities were reported from Angul district followed by four each from Khurda and Kalahandi, three each from Boudh, Nuapada and Sundargarh, two each from Gajapati, Kendrapara, Nabarangpur and Rayagada.

As many as 6,736 people tested positive during the period. Of the fresh cases, 3,774 were in quarantine and 2,962 detected during contact tracing. Despite the instruction not to conduct tests in three districts for the cyclone, the daily test report shared by the Health department revealed that 71 and 206 new cases were detected in the storm-hit Balasore and Bhadrak districts respectively. 

For the first time, Angul district reported a maximum of 788 new cases, followed by Sundargarh (720), Khurda (517), Bargarh (405), Jajpur (374), Cuttack (362) and Sambalpur (309). Nine districts reported new cases in double digits. The State had conducted 46,241 tests, including 11,909 through RT-PCR as against 69,407 tests a day before. 

The test positivity rate also came down to 14.5 pc from 16.7 pc as the testing was less in several districts having more infection rate on the pretext of cyclone. The number of tests has declined in many districts except Sundargarh, Angul, Bargarh, Balangir and Sambalpur.  

Director of Health Service Dr Bijay Mohapatra admitted that fewer tests in some districts due to the cyclone brought the positivity rate down in the State. However, the door-to-door survey for Covid symptoms and other vector-borne, water borne and non-communicable diseases will be intensified in areas affected by the cyclonic storm, he told mediapersons.

The State currently has 94,889 active cases and as many as 6,23,628 patients, including 11,551 on Thursday, recovered from the highly infectious disease. Over 1.15 crore samples have been tested and 7,32,739 confirmed cases detected so far.

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