755 new COVID-19 cases take Odisha's tally to 11,956

(Eds: Adding more inputs)

Bhubaneswar, Jul 10 () Odisha on Friday registered its highest single-day spike of 755 COVID-19 cases, taking the state's tally to 11,956, while the death toll mounted to 56 with four patients succumbing to the disease, a health department official said.

Ganjam, the worst-hit district, accounted for 34 deaths, followed by Khurda (8), Cuttack (5) and one each from Angul, Bargarh, Bhadrak, Gajapati, Jajpur, Kendrapara, Puri, Rayagada and Sundergarh, the official said.

The COVID-19 fatality rate in the state stands at 0.46 per cent against the national average of 2.72 per cent, he said.

Two more coronavirus patients - a 57-year-old man from Sundergarh and a 70-year-old man from Bhadrak - died but their deaths were attributed to "non-COVID reasons". They were suffering from cancer, the official said.

The number of COVID-19 patients, who succumbed to other diseases, increased to 17 in the state, he said.

Of the new cases, 508 were detected in different quarantine centres, while 247 were found through contact-tracing.

Contact-tracing and follow-up action of new patients are underway, he said.

Ganjam reported a maximum of 320 fresh cases, followed by Jajpur (86), Sundergarh (62), Khurda (59), Cuttack (55), Keonjhar (32), Gajapati (30), Malkangiri (18), Nayagarh (16), Mayurbhanj (12), Bolangir (12) and Puri (11).

There are 11 more districts where the number of fresh cases are in single-digits.

Odisha, which had reported its first COVID-19 infection on March 15, recorded the biggest single-day recovery on Friday with 565 patients have been cured of the disease, the official said.

The recoveries now stands at 7,972, which is 66.67 per cent against the national average of 62.42 per cent.

Odisha has 3,911 active COVID-19 cases.

A total of 3,21,443 samples have been tested so far in the state.

Institute of Life Science director Dr Ajay Parida said the state has decided to increase the number of daily COVID-19 tests to 8,000.

"Plans are made for conducting 6,000 RT-PCR and 2,000 antigen tests," he said, adding preparations are underway to develop SCB Medical College Hospital in Cuttack as the hub of the plasma therapy in the state.

While door-to-door health screening is being undertaken in slums in Bhubaneswar, the district administration of Gajapati on Friday put a ban on travel to neighbouring Ganjam district, which emerged as the coronavirus hotspot.

The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) also tightened its enforcement activities, including imposition of penalty on people and shop owners for not following COVID-19 guidelines.

An amount of Rs 2.67 lakh has been collected as fine for violation of restrictions, an official of the civic body said.

Meanwhile, the Odisha Assembly has been shut for three days after parents of an employee of the House tested positive for COVID-19, Speaker SN Patro said.

The headquarters of the Bhubaneswar-Cuttack police commissionarate is also being closed for sanitisation.

As of now, 5,958 COVID Care Homes are operational in 6,798 Gram Panchayats of the state, the offical said. AAM BDC CK