BHUBANESWAR: Test positivity rate (TPR) in Khurda crossed 10 per cent even as the State reported over 400 new COVID-19 cases for the third consecutive day on Friday, pushing the active cases close to 2500.
Of 470 fresh cases from 19 districts, Khurda recorded the highest 221 followed by Cuttack (94), Sundargarh (24) and Puri (17). Khurda and Cuttack are among 200 districts in the country having a weekly TPR of over 5 per cent.
The test positivity rate rose to 2.77 per cent despite the number of testing raised to 17,000 from a range of 12,000. The TPR soared to 10.61 per cent in Khurda, 8.13 per cent in Puri, 7.7 per cent in Cuttack and 2.9 per cent in Sundargarh.
The State has seen a seven-fold rise in daily infections as cases went up from 69 on June 27 to 470 on Friday. The districts which had led the third wave in Odisha are now witnessing an early surge after opening of educational institutions post-summer vacation.
Cases are also rising significantly in Puri after congregation of lakhs of devotees on Rath Yatra day. Health authorities said the cases are expected to rise further, and 15 days after Suna Besha of Lord Jagannath and his siblings at Puri are crucial.
Director of Public Health Dr Niranjan Mishra said despite the surge, severity of disease among patients has been low and it is a good sign. Only 20 people are admitted to different Covid hospitals and none of them is on ventilator.
Meanwhile, Institute of Life Sciences has sought Covid positive samples for genome sequencing following emergence of new sub-variants of BA.2 (Omicron) in a few states.