BHUBANESWAR: Rising Covid-19 fatality has begun to cause concern even as Odisha continues to register big increase in daily case additions.
Seven more patients succumbed on Tuesday, the highest in a single day, pushing the death toll to 61 while the State added 527 cases taking the total confirmed count to 10,624.
According to the Health and Family Welfare department, the deceased included a woman.
Three among them were from Ganjam and one each from Rayagada, Kendrapara and Khurda.
A 80-year-old man from Rayagada district with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease became the oldest victim of the virus in the State till date.
Others included men, aged 56 and 64 from Ganjam and men, aged 55 and 49 from Bhubaneswar and Kendrapara respectively. The woman patient, aged 50, was from Ganjam.
Besides, a 53-year-old HIV positive man from Khurda who also tested positive for Covid-19 passed away.
The case, however, has been categorised as non- Covid death. As many as 23 persons have died of the disease in the first week of July itself.
The death count was 25 till the end of last month. Worst-hit Ganjam topped the list both in number of cases and fatality with 2,836 confirmed cases and 27 deaths respectively.
However, the State Government has attributed 48 deaths to Covid-19 and 13 to other underlying diseases.
The fresh 527 cases were spread across 26 districts with maximum 215 persons infected in Ganjam, followed by 78 in Sundargarh and 50 in Khurda.
Meanwhile, under pressure over low testing despite rapid increase in case-load, Odisha on Wednesday received 20,000 more kits to ramp up rapid antigen tests at points of care across the State.
Additional Chief Secretary of Health department PK Mohapatra said highest 3,000 kits have been dispatched to Ganjam district.
“Around 500 kits have been sent to Gajapati, 1,500 to SCB MCH, 500 to AHPGIC, 1,000 each to five other medical colleges and 150 each to 32 district headquarters hospitals. The rest 4,700 kits have been kept at RMRC as reserve,” he said.
On the positive side, the highest number of 303 patients were discharged from hospitals on the day, bringing the number of active cases down to 3,557.
Meanwhile, the State Government has asked all Collectors to ensure that the guidelines on holding marriage and funerals in the midst of the pandemic are followed strictly.
In a fresh order, Special Relief Commissioner Pradeep Jena said under no circumstances more than 50 persons can participate in a marriage ceremony and the number of persons participating in the funeral function will not exceed 20. Violators will be liable for legal action.