Odisha coronavirus update: Covid-19 toll cross 500 mark, caseload mounts

The toll in Odisha due to COVID-19 crossed the 500 mark with 11 fresh fatalities, while detection of 3,025 new cases pushed the states caseload count to 106,561

The toll in Odisha due to COVID-19 crossed the 500 mark on Tuesday with 11 fresh fatalities, while detection of 3,025 new cases pushed the states caseload count to 1,06,561, a health department official said.

The state also during the day registered recovery of as many as 3,484 patients taking the number of persons cured of the disease to 80,770, which is 75.79 per cent against Mondays recovery rate of 74.64 per cent.

With the fresh fatalities, Odishas death toll reached 503 which is 0.47 per cent of the total caseload.

The states COVID-19 toll on August 1, a month ago, was just 187, the data released by the health department said.

Of the 3,025 new cases including two MLAs, 1,181 people tested positive for COVID-19 during contact tracing while as many as 1,844 fresh infections were detected in quarantine centres, he said.The state also during the day registered recovery of as many as 3,484 patients taking the number of persons cured of the disease to 80,770, which is 75.79 per cent against Mondays recovery rate of 74.64 per cent.

Khurda district, under which Bhubaneswar falls, reported the highest number of new cases at 666, followed by Cuttack (312), Mayurbhanj (215) and Ganjam (207), the official said, adding 24 other districts reported less than 200 new cases each.

Regret to inform the demise of 11 Covid positive patients while under treatment in hospitals, the health and family welfare department said in a tweet.

While Khurda, Mayurbhanj and Puri districts reported two fresh fatalities each, one patient each died in Cuttack, Ganjam, Jagatsinghpur, Kandhamal and Rayagada districts, he said.

Ganjam district accounted for 191 of the 503 COVID-19 deaths in the state, followed by 67 in Khurda, the official said adding 53 coronavirus patients have died due to other ailments so far.

With new cases, fresh fatalities and recoveries, Odishas active case number came down to 25,235 from 28,719. The active case ratio now stands at 23.68 per cent against Mondays 24.82 per cent, the data released by the department said.

The state has so far tested 18,39,854 samples for COVID-19, including 50,421 on Monday.

Following detection of COVID-19 infections in some government employees, the Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) and Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) office in Cuttack, suggested people not to visit their offices.

Meanwhile, the authorities of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) Tuesday reopened the Sun Temple at Konark for visitors after more than five months.

Only 2,500 tourists are allowed to visit the Black Pagoda (Konark Temple) adhering to the COVID-19 protocol, said ASI Superintending Officer Arun Kumar Mallick.