Odisha logs 1,897 new Covid-19 cases, highest single-day tally in 5 months

Odisha on Thursday recorded its biggest single-day spike in COVID-19 cases in around five months as 1,897 more people tested positive for the disease, the health department said.

The fresh infections raised the tally in the coastal state to over 10.6 lakh, it said.

The daily positivity rate rose to 2.62 per cent from 1.77 per cent a day ago.

At least 258 children were among those newly infected, the department's bulletin said.

The number of fresh cases jumped more than six-fold from 298 infections on January 1.

The state had logged 1,216 new COVID cases on Wednesday, while there were 1,917 infections on July 23.

Khurda district reported nearly one-third of the 1,897 fresh cases with 669 infections, followed by 262 in Sundargarh, 148 in Cuttack, 125 in Sambalpur and 100 in Balasore, the bulletin said.

The toll mounted to 8,467 as a 78-year-old man succumbed to the disease in Bhubaneswar.

Fifty-three other coronavirus-positive patients have died due to comorbidities so far, according to the data.

Odisha now has 5,739 active cases, including 2,167 in Khurda, which comprises the capital city Bhubaneswar.

At least 138 patients were cured of the disease in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of recoveries to 10.46 lakh, the bulletin said.

The state conducted 72,370 samples during the period, it added.