BHUBANESWAR : The new Covid cases dropped sharply to below 200 mark for the first time after six months. The infections declined by 51.5 per cent (pc) from 351 to 170 in the last 24 hours. Although testing was affected due to Diwali, overall 55,743 samples were tested including 18,676 through RT-PCR. The test positivity rate was also the lowest at 0.3 per cent (pc).
The maximum 61 cases were reported from Khurda, followed by 19 from Cuttack and 11 each from Balasore and Kendrapara. Ten districts did not record any new cases and the rest 16 districts reported cases in single digit.
With this the Covid tally rose to 10,42,943. Three more succumbed to the disease taking the toll to 8350. The active cases came down to 3115 after recovery of 536 patients. As the surge of the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 eased in many states, health experts claimed this could be the transition of the virus from a pandemic to an endemic stage.
Senior internal medicine specialist Dr Niroj Mishra said post Dussehra surge did not happen as it was anticipated thanks to the vaccine and infection induced herd immunity. The next fortnight post Diwali will determine whether the virus is becoming endemic, he pointed out.
However, researchers warned that coronavirus is an unpredictable virus that is constantly evolving as it spreads among vaccinated populations. “The possibility of the virus mutating to such an extent that it surpasses the vaccine induced immunity can not be completely ruled out.