BHUBANESWAR: Even as the daily test positivity rate (TPR) dropped further on Saturday, Khurda, Cuttack and Sundargarh districts continue to remain areas of concern for the State government. The three districts have reported on an average more than 100 new infections a day in the last fortnight. On Saturday, Khurda reported the maximum 170 cases followed by Cuttack 126 and Sundargarh 112.
Despite an overall decline in infection rate, Khurda registered 3,575 new cases between October 15 and 30 at an average of 238 cases a day. While Cuttack recorded 2,097 new infections during the period with an average of 139 cases a day, Sundargarh reported 1,652 cases with a daily average of 110 cases. The death toll in Khurda, Cuttack and Sundargarh during the period was 25, 16 and 14 respectively. Apart from the three districts, the ups and downs in new cases have been witnessed in Balasore and Jagatsinghpur, which are facing by-elections besides the neighbouring Kendrapara and Jajpur.
TPR down, but concerns over hotspots persist
Meanwhile, the tPR that slightly rose to 4.17 per cent (pc) earlier this week has again shown a downward trend, coming down to three pc with the State recording 1,470 new cases in last 24 hours. the State has registered 28,105 cases and 231 deaths in the last fortnight. although the number of tests has been increased from a range of 30,303 on october 26 to 47,750 on october 30, the Health and Family Welfare department has directed districts, especially Khurda, Cuttack, Puri, Balasore, Jagatsinghpur, Keonjhar, Sundargarh and Kendrapara to maintain their daily target until detection of new cases comes down drastically. additional Chief Secretary PK Mohapatra said it is a good sign that the positivity rate is constantly declining even after Dussehra.
“But we should not be complacent. I have asked the districts to step up testing. the same pace of detection and contact tracing should continue till the new cases come down to single digit,” he said. Meanwhile, 12 more patients, including three each from Khurda and Sundargarh, two from Keonjhar and one each from Puri, Jharsuguda, Ganjam and Nuapada succumbed to the disease taking the toll to 1,373. as many as 1,911 patients recovered on Saturday bringing down the active cases to 12,994. of the total 2,90,116 confirmed cases, 2,75,749 have recovered so far. the State has conducted a total 45,55,815 tests.