30 returnees from Surat test positive as Odisha reports highest spike of 34 COVID-19 cases in a day

Odisha on Thursday reported the highest number of COVID-19 cases in a day as 34 people, including 30 who recently returned from Surat, tested positive for coronavirus, an official said.

With these new cases, the total number has climbed to 219 in the state, the official said.

The number of active cases now stands at 155 with 62 people recovering from the disease. Two persons from Bhubaneswar have died of the infection.

Of the 34 new cases, 24 are from Ganjam district, four from Mayurbhanj, three from Bhubaneswar, two from Balasore and one from Jagatsinghpur district.

Mayurbhanj has joined the list of districts where coronavirus cases have been reported, the official from the Information and Public Relations department said.

Thirty of the 34 new patients had recently returned from Surat and are in quarantine centres, the official said.

Migrant workers from Odisha stranded in Gujarat's Surat city during lockdown are returning back home in droves by buses and trains after the Centre allowed their movement.

Nearly three lakh Odia workers mostly from Ganjam district are engaged in diamond cutting, textiles and other works in Surat.

While the travel history of three patients detected in Bhubaneswar is yet to be verified, the lone case confirmed in Jagatsinghpur district had recently returned from West Bengal, the official said.

In Bhubaneswar, the cases were reported from Mancheswar, VSS Nagar and Surya Nagar. While eight COVID-19 cases had earlier been confirmed in Surya Nagar area, Mancheswar and VSS Nagar reported coronavirus cases for the first time.

Following the spurt in COVID-19 cases, the state government declared Ganjam as a red zone, while Mayurbhanj and Jagatsinghpur were classified as orange zones.

The first case in Ganjam was reported on May 2 and since then, there has been a sudden spurt in the number of cases, the official said.

"All necessary stipulations by the Centre and the state government applicable for different zones in the districts and municipal corporation areas are to be followed scrupulously," Health and Family Welfare department Additional Chief Secretary P K Mohapatra said in a letter to the three district administrations and the commissioner of Berhampur Municipal Corporation.

Ganjam district collector V A Kulange said the administration is taking care of those who have returned to the state, and only authorised persons are allowed to enter the quarantine centres or temporary medical facilities.

Apart from Ganjam, three districts -- Jajpur, Bhadrak and Balasore -- and areas under Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) in Khurda are classified as red zones.

There are 10 orange and 14 green zones for coronavirus in the state.

Altogether 3,060 samples were tested on Wednesday, the Information and Public Relations department official said, adding a total of 50,514 samples have been tested so far in the state.

Jajpur district has reported the maximum number of cases at 55, followed by Bhubaneswar in Khurda district 50, Ganjam 28, Balasore 27, Bhadrak 21, Sundergarh 12, Jagatsinghpur 5, Mayurbhanj 4 and Kendrapara 3.

Two cases each have been detected in Cuttack, Jharsuguda, Bolangir, Keonjhar and Kalahandi, and one each in Puri, Dhenkanal, Deogarh and Koraput districts.