Bhubaneswar: The COVID-19 toll in Odisha touched 8,797 with 22 more fatalities being confirmed by the Health Department on Wednesday (February 9) after an audit.
While there has been a steady decline in new cases, the state has seen a significant rise in deaths due to the deadly disease in the past fortnight with more than 20 people succumbing to the virus in the last six days and the highest 23 each on February 4 and 6.
After reporting fatalities in single digits till Thursday (January 27) and none the following day, the state reported 10 deaths on January 28 and another 15 on January 29. The COVID tally was 19 on January 30 and 18 on January 31. While 23 deaths were confirmed on February 4, the details of the patients were not shared on the official handle of the department and this was also the case on February 3 when 18 casualties were reported. Odisha had seen 19 casualties on February 2 and among them were three children aged 4, 14 and 15 years and 17 on February 1.
The state had reported 22 deaths on Saturday (February 5), 23 on Sunday (February 6), 20 on Monday (February 7) and 21 on Tuesday (February 8), which included a 19-day-old baby, a 3-month-old boy and a 9-year-old.
Odisha had reported a total of 147 COVID deaths in January, the tally in the third wave has now gone up to 371 with a three-day-old being the youngest victim.
According to health authorities the Delta variant, which is still prevalent in the state, is driving the fatalities.
“Many patients who get admission for chronic disease or any other severe health reason turn positive though the COVID-19 has nothing to do with their health complications. If such patients die, it is counted as COVID deaths,” Director of Health Services Dr Bijay Mohapatra told TNIE.
According to the Supreme Court’s directive, if a patient dies within 30 days of testing positive for the infection, the death will be attributed to COVID-19, he said.
“Mostly people with comorbidities are falling prey to the disease irrespective of the vaccination status though around 35 pc unvaccinated people have succumbed during this wave,” he added.
Among the fresh 22 fatalities, only two had no comorbidities and among them, two are aged 23. The highest of 11 deaths have been reported from Bhubaneswar.
Details of the deceased:
1.A 62 years old male of Angul District who was also suffering from Urticaria.
2.A 46 years old male of Angul District who was also suffering from Chronic Liver Disease & Dilated Cardiomyopathy.
3.A 70 years old male of Bhubaneswar who was also suffering from Diabetes Mellitus & Hypertension.
4.A 61 years old female of Bhubaneswar who was also suffering from Diabetes Mellitus, Hypertension & Chronic Kidney Disease.
5.A 23 years old male of Bhubaneswar who was also suffering from Chronic Kidney Disease.
6.A 81 years old male of Bhubaneswar who was also suffering from Diabetes Mellitus & Hypertension.
7.A 67 years old male of Bhubaneswar.
8.A 63 years old male of Bhubaneswar who was also suffering from Diabetes Mellitus & Hypertension.
9.A 56 years old female of Bhubaneswar who was also suffering from Chronic Kidney Disease & Hypertension.
10.A 87 years old male of Bhubaneswar who was also suffering from Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease & Hypertension.
11.A 53 years old male of Bhubaneswar who was also suffering from Hypertension.
12.A 57 years old female of Bhubaneswar who was also suffering from Hypothyroidism, Myocarditis.
13.A 80 years old male of Bhubaneswar who was also suffering from Diabetes Mellitus & Hypertension
14.A 66 years old male of Balangir District who was also suffering from Post Renal Transplant, Right Foot Amputation, Hypertension, Diabetes Mellitus, Old Ischemic Cerebro Vascular Accident ,Hypothyroidism.
15.A 79 years old male of Dhenkanal District who was also suffering from Diabetes Mellitus, Hypertension & Chronic Kidney Disease.
16.A 75 years old male of Jagatsinghpur District who was also suffering from Hepato Cellular Carcinoma, Diabetes Mellitus, Hypertension, Chronic Kidney Disease, Hypothyroidism & UGI Bleed.
17.A 60 years old male of Kandhamal District who was also suffering from Diabetes Mellitus, Hypertension, Hypothyroidism, Dilated Cardiomyopathy, Choledocholithiasis.
18.A 56 years old female of Khurda District who was also suffering from Chronic Kidney Disease.
19.A 68 years old female of Khurda District. 20.A 82 years old male of Khurdha District who was also suffering from Diabetes Mellitus, Hypertension & Chronic Kidney Disease.
21.A 23 years old male of Mayurbhanja District who was also suffering from Hypertension.
22.A 52 years old male of Sundargarh District.
