Odisha reports highest single-day spike of 577 COVID-19 cases, four more fatalities

(Eds: With latest inputs)

Bhubaneswar, Jul 9 () Odisha on Thursday reported its highest single-day spike of 577 COVID-19 cases, taking the tally in the state to 11,201, a health department official said.

The death toll climbed to 52 with four more people succumbing to the disease, he said.

"Regret to inform the demise of four COVID positive patients while under treatment in hospitals," the Health Department said in a statement.

It said three fatalities were reported from COVID-19 hotspot Ganjam and one from Bhadrak district.

Two other COVID-19 patients have died due to other ailments, taking the number of such deaths in the state to 15, the statement said.

The worst-hit Ganjam has reported 30 of the 52 COVID-19 deaths, followed by eight in Khurda, five in Cuttack and one each in Sundergarh, Rayagada, Puri, Kendrapara, Jajpur, Gajapati, Bargarh, Angul and Bhadrak districts.

Of the fresh cases, 416 were reported from quarantine centres while 161 are people who had come in contact with COVID-19 patients, the health official said.

Ganjam reported the highest number of fresh cases, at 260, followed by Sundergarh (83) and Khurda (56).

Odisha now has 3,727 active cases with 401 patients recovering from the disease since Wednesday. The total number of those recovered so far is 7,407, he said.

The district administration in Ganjam has started a five-day urban shutdown for door-to-door health screening of people.

Over seven lakh people will be covered in the first phase in 18 urban centres, an official said.

All government offices, banks in urban areas will remain closed from July 9 to July 13, Ganjam District Magistrate-cum-Collector V A Kulange said.

The COVID-19 Empowered Group of Ministers has decided to increase testing from the existing 6,000 tests per day, Health and Family Welfare Minister N K Das said.

He said an expert committee will be formed comprising specialist doctors and scientists to examine the cause of COVID-19 deaths.

The state government also appointed a senior IAS officer in the Chief Minister's Office to monitor the coronavirus management, keeping in view the spike in the number of cases.

Meanwhile, Balasore MP and Union minister Pratap Sarangi, who was under quarantine after BJP MLA Sukanta Kumar Nayak tested positive, tweeted, "I am glad to share that by divine grace and by all your blessings, the results of the COVID-19 tests of mine and all my team here in Delhi is found negative. I continue to be in good health." AAM SBN RBT TIR TIR