Odisha logs 7,188 new Covid-19 cases, 35 more fatalities in last 24 hours

At least 7,188 more people

tested positive for COVID-19 in Odisha, pushing the tally in the coastal state to 7,47,143, a health department official said on Saturday.

The death toll rose to 2,686 as 35 more patients, including a four-year-old boy, succumbed to the disease, he said.

Of the fresh cases, 4,026 were reported from quarantine centres and the remaining 3,162 detected during contact tracing.

Khurda district, which comprises the state capital Bhubaneswar, recorded the highest number of new cases at 1,134, followed by Cuttack (690) and Angul (515).

A report from Sambalpur district revealed that as many as 46 children below 12 years of age tested positive in a span of three days. They were admitted to Veer Surendra Sai Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (VIMSAR), Burla, an official of the local administration said.

Taking to Twitter, the Health and Family Welfare Department said, "Regret to inform the demise of thirty-five COVID positive patients while under treatment in hospitals."

Five fresh fatalities were reported from Angul district, four each in Kalahandi and Rayagada, three each from Jharsuguda, Khurda, Nabarangpur and Sundargargh and two each from Boudh, Jagatsinghpur and Koraput.

One patient each succumbed to the infection in Cuttack, Malkangiri, Sambalpur and Subbarnapur, the health department official said.

The death of the four-year-old boy in Koraput district has forced the local administration to prepare a special strategy for the treatment of coronavirus-positive children.

Fifty-three other COVID-19 patients have also died due to comorbidities, he said.

Odisha now has 97,271 active cases.

At least 11,954 people were cured of disease on Friday, taking the total number of recoveries to 6,47,133.

The state has so far conducted over 1.16 crore sample tests for COVID-19, including 48,649 on Friday, and the positivity rate now stands at 6.42 per cent.