BHUBANESWAR: A day after a drop of nearly eight per cent (pc) cases, Odisha saw a rise of over 400 cases as the State reported 6,599 new Covid-19 cases posting an all time high test positivity rate (TPR) of 16.64 pc. Nine more succumbed to the disease, the highest death toll on a day, this year.
The highest TPR of 16.11 pc was recorded on July 24 last year when 1,503 people had tested positive of 9,327 tested. The TPR was 16.2 pc on Saturday.
The positivity shot up following a decline in testing. Only 39,642 tests were conducted in last 24 hours as against 43,765 tests previous day.
Of the fresh infections, 3,827 were in quarantine and 2,772 local contacts. While Khurda continued to be worst hit, significant number of cases were detected from Cuttack, Ganjam, Jajpur, Puri and Jagatsinghpur apart from the eight districts bordering Chhattisgarh and two northern districts bordering West Bengal.
The maximum 958 cases were from Khurda, 551 from Nuapada, 518 from Kalahandi, 488 from Cuttack, 436 from Jharsuguda, 434 from Sundargarh, 323 from Ganjam, 237 from Jajpur and 226 from Sambalpur.
One of the green category districts Sonepur recorded more than 100 cases after a gap of over six months. The district had reported 129 cases on October 1 last year.
The positivity rate in 10 districts was above the State average with highest 47 pc in Kalahandi district, followed by 42 pc in Sambalpur, 38.7 pc in Nuapada, 28.8 pc in Nabarangpur, 27.7 pc in Bargarh, 27.2 pc in Sundargarh, 25.2 pc in Jharsuguda, 20.7 pc in Khurda, 19.3 pc in Jajpur and 17.2 pc in Boudh.As per the data of Chennai-based Institute of Mathematical Sciences, the R value (reproduction value) though has dropped below two in Odisha, it is the second highest in the country. R value in the State was 1.71 as against 1.84 in Uttar Pradesh.
Since the cases remained in a range of 6,000 to 6,700 for last five days, Director of Medical Education and Training Prof CBK Mohanty said the Covid-19 graph is plateauing in the State.
“Neither the State, nor the country has witnessed a sharp increase in Covid cases in the past few days. The curve is plateauing. If the trend continues and people strictly adhere to Covid appropriate behaviour, we can expect a decline in cases soon,” hoped Prof Mohanty.
Health experts, however, refused to buy his claim. Noted microbiologist Dr Tribhuban Mohan Mohapatra said the cases are down because Odisha is testing less.
The number is likely to touch 10,000 per day if 60,000 to 70,000 tests, including 70 pc through RT-PCR, are conducted per day like other states, he added. The State has 44,895 active cases, of which around 3,000 are in hospital isolation.
The number of patients admitted in ICUs has surpassed the last year’s peak time ICU admissions. While the highest 836 patients were admitted during the peak of first wave, now 867 patients are in ICU beds across Covid hospitals in the State.
The ICU beds in Kalahandi, Balangir and Jajpur districts besides in Ashwini Hospital at Cuttack, Aditya Ashwini Hospital at Bhubaneswar and Jay Prakash Hospital at Rourkela are occupied.