COVID-19: Odisha reports highest single-day spike with 129 new cases

Odisha registered its highest single-day spike in COVID-19 cases on Sunday after 129 more people, including 119 returnees from other states, tested positive for the infection, a health department official said.

The total number of coronavirus cases in the state rose to 1,948, he said. The day also witnessed the recovery of 76 patients from different COVID hospitals.

The total number of recoveries increased to 1,126 while the active cases now stood at 813, the official said, adding that seven persons have died of COVID-19 as on Sunday evening while two others succumbed due to other comorbid conditions.

The recovery cases have been reported from 15 districts. Kendrapara reported highest 17 recoveries.

Of the 129 new patients, 119 recently returned to the state from West Bengal, Karnataka, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu and Dubai, the official said.

The other 10 were detected from among local people during contact-tracing exercises, he said.

The new cases were reported from 19 districts. The maximum of 18 fresh cases was found in Kendrapara, followed by 16 in Gajapati, 12 in Nuapada, 11 in Bolangir, 10 each in Ganjam and Jajpur districts.

Seven new cases were reported in Khurda, six each in Balasore, Sundergarh, Mayurbhanj, Bargarh, five in Cuttack, four each in Puri and Deogarh, three in Keonjhar, two in Jagatsinghpur and one each in Malkangiri, Dhenkanal and Sambalpur.

The state health department has so far tested 1,52,131 samples, the official said.

Altogether 4,641 samples were tested on Saturday, he said, adding that the government has created 16,648 temporary medical centres or camps in 6,798 gram panchayats for people returning to the state.

A total of 1,246 people including 813 active COVID-19 cases and 433 suspected cases are presently in hospital isolation, the official said.

The districts which have reported more than 100 COVID-19 cases are Ganjam (414), Jajpur (269), Balasore (152), Khurda (138) and Bhadrak (113).