Bhubaneswar: Odisha reported 71 COVID-19 cases on Sunday with 66 in the 0-18 age group testing positive for the virus in the last 24 hours. The number of cases rose sharply after 64 school students tested positive in Rayagada, the highest on a single day in about two months.
The state had reported 14 cases on Saturday and the daily caseload had been hovering around 8-15 over the last month and a half.
As many as 257 inmates of Anwesha Hostel at Kotlaguda were made to undergo RT-PCR test by a rapid response team of the state Health Department on May 4. Of them, 44 have tested positive.
“All of them are asymptomatic and have been kept in isolation. All precautionary measures are being taken by the authorities to prevent further spread of the virus,” hostel matron Namita Samal said on Saturday.
Students of eight English medium schools in the district reportedly stay in this hostel.
In Bisamkatak block, 20 school students were found to have contracted the virus. They are students of Hatamuniguda Government High School.
According to the I & PR Department, of the fresh cases, 7 are from local contacts and 64 from quarantine.
Here’s the district-wise tally of cases:
- Balasore: 2
- Kandhamal: 1
- Khurda: 2
- Nuapada: 1
- Rayagada: 64
The state pool accounted for one case.
With 15,685 samples tested in the last 24 hours, the Test Positivity Rate (TPR) stood at 0.45%.
Odisha has 160 active cases as of Sunday.
Also read: https://odishabytes.com/64-school-children-test-positive-hostel-turns-covid-cluster-in-odisha/
