BHUBANESWAR: Odisha witnessed a quantum jump in new COVID-19 cases as 791 people from 29 of the 30 districts tested positive in the last 24 hours. Fresh infections rose by 35 per cent over the the previous day's count of 588 cases.
Sundargarh district recorded over 100 cases for the first time this year. With 147 cases, the district bordering Chhattisgarh, topped the chart followed by Khurda (118), Bargarh (48), Cuttack (46), Sambalpur (45), Puri (43), Keonjhar (39), Kalahandi (38), Jharsuguda and Nuapada (31 each).
Among others, Mayurbhanj, Nabarangpur, Angul, Jajpur, Balangir, Rayagada and Bhadrak registered 24, 23, 17, 16, 14, 14 and 10 cases respectively.
Nine districts bordering Chhattisgarh reported 343 cases accounting for 43% of the new infections. While inter-state movement turned out to be a major reason behind the recent spurt in cases, a wedding band from Maharashtra is attributed to the rise in cases in a village in Sundargarh district.
From 2.35 pc a day before to 2.5 pc, the test positivity rate is on the rise constantly. The state conducted 31,531 tests, nearly 40% of which were through
RT-PCR, in the last 24 hours.
One person succumbed to the disease taking the death toll to 1923. A 28-year-old Covid positive patient of Puri district who was also suffering from diabetes mellitus died while undergoing treatment.
With these new cases, the Covid tally has soared to 3,44,647. 3,38,416 have recovered and the active cases stand at 4255.
The state government on Wednesday rushed senior government officials to affected districts to monitor the situation. Chief Secretary Suresh Mahapatra, Development Commissioner PK Jena and Additional Chief Secretary of Health department PK Mohapatra will visit border districts and monitor enforcement and containment measures.
Meanwhile, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) has sealed the Oxford Engineering College at Palaspalli for allegedly violating Covid-19 guidelines. An event hall near Ram Mandir was also sealed as it had not taken permission for organising function.