Odisha Sees Sharp Uptick In COVID Cases In 2 Days; Highest In Cuttack Dist

Bhubaneswar: Odisha reported 68 new COVID cases amid 46% surge in daily caseload in India with 4,435 fresh infections in the last 24 hours, according to Health Ministry’s data on Wednesday morning.

This is the highest daily spike in the state in the last five months. The active tally stands at 292 , the highest since October 29, with 21 patients having recovered in last 24 hours.

The daily COVID caseload in Odisha had doubled and active tally crossed 200-mark with 53 new infections on Tuesday. Those infected are symptomatic and mostly from Sundargarh, Sambalpur, Nabarangpur and Khurda districts. No infection has been detected among children, Health Department sources had said.

With this, the daily test positivity rate (TPR) in the state has crossed 1 per cent with over 5,000 samples being tested daily.

Health officials, however, said that the situation in Odisha is still under control and there is no need to worry since the severity of the disease is very less this time. “The TPR in Odisha is 1.4 per cent compared to 3.33  in India. Odisha is testing 108 in a million population comparison to India’s 97. That does not mean we are not complacent, and districts, which are reporting more cases, have been directed to take up contact tracing,” he said.

Mishra further said that the cases will gradually increase and accordingly, testing will go up. “Cuttack currently has the most number of cases, followed by Sundargarh and Nabarangpur,” he added.

Several states have seen a surge in daily infections in the past few day. Maharashtra logged 186% more cases on Monday with 711 people testing positive for the virus. Delhi had then recorded 521 new infections.

On Wednesday, Kerala reported the highest 596 cases, followed by Delhi (304) and Maharashtra (260).