BHUBANESWAR: With far more infectious coronavirus sweeping the country, Odisha reported a record spike of 4,445 new cases, a jump of over 20 per cent (pc) in a day, posting an all time high single day total in last 24 hours.
Four persons also succumbed to the disease during the period. The case count surpassed the highest single day spike of 4,356 cases recorded on September 25 during the first wave of the pandemic last year. The sharpest ever growth rate this month was 38.3 times against the highest 4.7 times recorded in May last year.
The test positivity rate (TPR) shot up to 12.28 pc with the test of around 36,175 samples, including 14,762 through RT-PCR. For the first time since the beginning of the pandemic, the TPR in 11 of the 30 districts is more than 10 pc and above the State average.
The TPR in some of the districts is as high as that of worst hit cities like Mumbai, Pune and Delhi.The highest positivity rate of 39.68 pc was calculated in Kalahandi, 35.73 pc in Nuapada, 28.08 pc in Sambalpur, 26.81 pc in Sundargarh, 20.89 pc in Puri, 18.81 pc in Jharsuguda, 16.47 pc in Balangir, 15.2 pc in Khurda (15.33 pc in Bhubaneswar), 14.95 pc in Nabarangpur, 14.84 pc in Bargarh and 10.61 pc in Cuttack.
Not only the TPR, the effective reproduction rate (R value), considered to be an indicator of how fast Covid-19 infection would spread, is also on a consistent rise in the State and it is ahead of Delhi. The value has gone up to 2.39 from 2.14 last week against the national average of 1.3.
Odisha is one of the top-eight states where the R value is above two. Assam topped the chart with the value at three, followed by Bihar 2.84, Uttar Pradesh 2.68, Delhi 2.27, Jharkhand 2.14 and Rajasthan 2.13. If the rising R value is any indication, the coronavirus infection is set to explode in the State. Of the fresh cases, 2,574 were found among people in quarantine and 1,871 local infections. While two districts registered more than 500 cases and six districts over 200 cases each, five districts have recorded above 100 cases each. Seven districts are now categorised as Covid hotspots with more than 1,000 active cases.
Districts bordering Chhattisgarh continued to dominate the tally with the worst hit Sundargarh contributing 722 cases, followed by Nuapada (437), Kalahandi (273), Sambalpur (241), Jharsuguda (231), Bargarh (178), Balangir (168) and Nabarangpur (127). Ten border districts logged 2,407 cases accounting for 54 pc of the new infections.
The Twin cities Bhubaneswar and Cuttack and Pilgrim town Puri have been witnessing a spurt in new infections. As many as 587 cases were detected in Khurda (including 468 from Bhubaneswar), 251 in Cuttack, 219 in Puri, 123 in Balasore and 100 in Mayurbhanj.
Four persons, including two from Sundargarh and one each from Jharsuguda and Keonjhar succumbed to the disease pushing the cumulative death toll to 1948. Two among them in their 40s died without having any comorbidities. Of the total 3,72,703 confirmed cases, 3,47,637 patients have recovered so far. The active cases stand at 23,065.
