New COVID Cases Cross 500-Mark In Odisha; Weekly Positivity Rate 48% In Sambalpur

Bhubaneswar: The daily COVID caseload in Odisha breached the 500-mark with 502 of 6,616 samples testing positive for the virus in the last 24 hours, the state health department informed on Sunday.

While the test positivity rate (TPR) has surged to 7.5%, Odisha now has 2,926 active cases.

This came amid a sharp fall in new infections in India, which logged 10,112 cases against 12193 the previous day.

Odisha had reported 489 fresh cases on Saturday and 387 and 431 infections on Thursday and Friday respectively, 377 on Wednesday while the daily caseloads on Tuesday and Monday were 269 and 268 respectively.

Between April 16 and April 22, Sambalpur recorded a weekly TPR of 48.03% followed by 25% in Sonepur, 20.99% in Sundargarh, 14.10% in Kalahandi and 13.94% in Nuapada, according to data shared by the Health Ministry.

The state has been witnessing a steady rise in the number of patients complaining of high fever and soar throat. Since most of those being screened are testing positive for COVID, the health experts suspect that others with similar symptoms might also be infected with coronavirus.

Amid a a spurt in cases in two bordering blocks of Nabarangpur in last two weeks, the Odisha government on Friday asked officials of districts bordering Chhattisgarh to keep a track on people coming from the neighbouring state and test them for COVID-19 if they show symptoms. A team of health officials led by Public Health Director Niranjan Mishra also visited Koraput, Malkangiri and Nabarangapur to review the preparedness.

The state has so far reported 3 deaths due to COVID this year.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) has upgraded Omicron subvariant XBB.1.16 to a COVID-19 “variant of interest” (VOI) due to its “sustained increase” and “growth advantage” reported from several countries.