Odisha's COVID tally crosses 25,000 mark; death toll 140

Odisha's COVID-19 tally crossed the 25,000-mark on Sunday with 1,376 new cases, while the death toll mounted to 140 with 10 more patients succumbing to the disease, a Health department official said.

Of the new cases, 917 were reported from quarantine centres and 459 detected during local contact-tracing, according to an official. The total number of cases in the state stands at 25,389.

The total cases include 211 frontline workers. Thirty-eight of them are under treatment and 173 have recovered.

Among the 10 new fatalities, Ganjam reported six followed by Khurda two, and Gajapati and Sundergarh one each, the official said.

The state also registered 864 patients recuperating from the disease in 24 hours, taking the number of cured persons to 16,793 which is 66.14 per cent of the total caseload of 25,389.

The fatality rate slightly increased to 0.55 per cent from 0.54 per cent on Saturday, according to data released by the Health department.

Ganjam, the worst-hit district in Odisha, reported the highest number of fresh cases at 484, followed by Khurda 187, Keonjhar 103, Puri 91, Cuttack 75 and Gajapati 74. New cases were reported from all 30 districts of the state.

Odisha reported its first COVID-19 case on March 15. It took around 45 days for the tally to 7,065 on June 30. After that, 18,324 cases got added to the tally in just 26 days, the official data revealed.

As many as 5,554 new positive cases have been detected since July 26, an official said.

However, Additional Chief Secretary, Health and Family Welfare P K Mohapatra termed the surge in cases "temporary" and claimed that the spike is due to door-to-door surveillance being conducted during the lockdown in the hotspot districts of Ganjam, Khurda, Jajpur and Cuttack along with Rourkela city.

READ | Odisha's COVID-19 Tally Crosses 24,000-mark; Death Toll Climbs To 130

The survey will continue till July 31, he said.

The death toll, which was just 25 till June 30, has increased to 140 on July 26. As many as 115 more people have succumbed to the infection in just 26 days, the data said.

Of the 140 deaths so far in the state, Ganjam reported 79, followed by Khurda 17, Cuttack and Gajapati nine each, Sundargarh five, Rayagada four, and Angul, Balasore, Bhadrak, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara and Puri two each.

One death each has been reported from Bargarh, Jajpur, Kandhamal, Nayagarh and Jharsuguda, the official said.

Another COVID-19 patient died in Ganjam due to eclampsia pregnancy, taking the number of patients who died due to other ailments to 34, he added.

The number of active COVID-19 cases in Odisha stood at 8,422, which is 33.17 per cent of the total caseload.

Odisha has tested 4,58,120 samples for COVID-19 so far, including 11,809 on Saturday, the official said.

Cuttack district has so far reported 1,614 COVID-19 cases, of which 612 are from Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) and the rest 1,002 from other areas.

There are 483 active cases in the district, of which 307 are in CMC area and 176 in rural Cuttack. As many as 1,116 have recovered and discharged, said Cuttack district COVID-19 observer Sourav Garg.

In Ganjam district, which has so far reported 8,678 COVID-19 cases and 79 deaths, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) were on Sunday provided to sarpanches, panchayat samiti members and zilla parishad members who are frontline workers, said district collector V A Kulange.

In Bhubaneswar, the COVID-19 tally inched towards the 2000-mark with 163 new cases reported in the city in 24 hours. The total number of COVID-19 cases rose to 1,991 of which 1,069 are active and 909 people have recovered.

The disease has claimed 12 lives so far with one more fatality reported on Sunday. 

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