The coronavirus situation continued to worsen in the State as several districts reported fresh positive cases on Friday. As many as 50 cases were detected in the worst-hit Ganjam district on the day, taking the tally to 1,138 including 8 deaths. Similarly, Gajapati reported 27 new cases. With this, the total number of Covid- 19 patients rose to 411 in the district. In Jagatsinghpur, 29 new cases were confirmed.
Of the fresh cases, 10 are from Biridi, seven from Tirtol, five each from Raghunathpur and Balikuda each and two from Kujang. All of them are asymptomatic and and were lodged in different quarantine centres. With this, the total number of positive cases rose to 268 in the district. So far, 162 patients have recovered. Similarly, 11 persons including two Government doctors of the NTPC Covid-19 care centre, tested positive in Sundargarh district.
In a tweet, Collector Nikhil Pawan Kalyan said apart from the two doctors, three Kolkata returnees quarantined at the Covid care centre tested positive. Five others quarantined at BPUT Covid care centre at Rourkela including three locals have been infected. A West Bengal returnee lodged at the temporary medical centre (TMC) in Gurundia block also tested positive.
In Koraput, A person with travel history to Mumbai has been detected with coronavirus. The 43-year-old male patient of Semiliguda was in home quarantine. The health administration has traced eight of his contacts.
Meanwhile, Nabarangpur Collector Ajit Mishra announced shutdown of Umerkote till June 29 to check the spread of Covid-19. Sources said there are rumours of 19 persons, including five inmates of Umerkote sub-jail, getting infected with the virus but the district administration is yet to confirm.