BHUBANESWAR: Under Opposition fire for under-reporting of Covid deaths, Odisha government on Friday announced 61 fatalities, highest in a day so far, taking the death toll to 4,476. Health department sources said, maximum 11 fatalities were reported from Khurda district, six each from Bargarh, Ganjam, Mayurbhanj and Puri, five each from Sambalpur and Sundargarh, four from Keonjhar and two each from Cuttack, Dhenkanal and Nayagarh.
With 2,806 people testing positive in last 24 hours, the new cases also saw further rise with fresh infections from Khurda, Cuttack and Jajpur fuelling the tally. Of the fresh cases reported from all 30 districts, 1,613 were in quarantine and 1,193 local contacts.
Khurda reported the highest 590 cases, followed by Cuttack (441), Jajpur (252), Balasore (153), Puri (138), Dhenkanal (124), Jagatsinghpur (119), Mayurbhanj (109) and Angul (102). Although cases in rural Khurda have declined considerably, Bhubaneswar continued to report an average of over 350 cases a day for last four days.
The number of tests though has been increased to 78,560 - around 67 per cent (pc) of it being rapid antigen tests - bringing down the test positivity rate to 3.5 pc. However, the Ministry of Health during its daily briefing said two districts in Odisha were among 66 in the country reporting more than 10 pc positivity for the week ending July 8. While Nuapada had the highest TPR of 17.8 pc, it was 10.2 pc in Jagatsinghpur. The TPR was five pc to 10 pc in 10 districts including Khurda, Cuttack, Balasore, Dhenkanal, Nayagarh and Jajpur.
The rising cases in some of the districts under partial lockdown has become a cause of concern for the health authorities especially when some states like Maharashtra, Kerala and Assam have been reporting high fresh infections. With people defying Covid norms, it turns out to be difficult to contain the spread of the disease.
Director of Health Services Dr Bijay Mohapatra said surveillance and testing have been increased in districts where cases are not declining. “The third wave will hit early if people lower guard and do not shun complacency. The Central team is reviewing the situation in several districts,” he added.