BHUBANESWAR: Health and Family Welfare Minister Naba Kishore Das on Friday tested positive for Covid-19 even as new cases in the State leapfrogged to 2,703, the highest single-day total in the last over five months.Das is asymptomatic and in home isolation. The Health Minister, who was touring his constituency, has urged people who came in contact with him to get tested.
The fresh infections, including 409 in the 0-18 years age group, went up by 42 per cent (pc) over the previous day’s caseload of 1,897. As many as 1,216 cases were detected on Wednesday and 680 on Tuesday. Around 68,970 samples were tested during the period and the overall test positivity rate (TPR) rose to 3.92 pc.
Five districts reported more than 100 cases each in the last 24 hours. The hotspot Khurda contributed around 34 pc of the caseload as the district recorded the maximum 926 cases, followed by 454 from Sundargarh, 191 from Cuttack, 179 from Sambalpur and 106 from Jharsuguda. Khurda with 2,914 active cases has once again entered the red zone.
The TPR shot up to 10.75 pc in Sundargarh, 10 pc in Khurda and 8.4 pc in Bhubaneswar in less than a week prompting the administration to enforce localised containment measures to check the spread of infection. It was 5.4 pc in Sambalpur, 4.74 pc in Jharsuguda and three pc in Cuttack.
Like the initial days of the second wave when western Odisha districts contributed majorly to the caseload, this time too the infection has spread across the region and districts having thickly populated cities/towns. Ten districts accounted for 2,190 cases, 68 pc of the daily caseload.
Director of Health Service Dr Bijay Mohapatra said the significant rise in cases among the paediatric population is a concern though the hospitalisation is negligible. “The government has stopped offline classes following the surge. The mask rules are being tightened and officials asked to ensure strict enforcement,” he said.
One more patient, a 78-year-old from Khurda district, succumbed to the disease taking the toll to 8,468. The active cases stood at 7,984.