Odisha reports 1,594 fresh COVID-19 cases, tally surges past 22,500

Odisha's COVID-19 tally mounted to 22,693 with record 1,594 fresh cases in a day, while the death toll surged to 120 as six more people succumbed to the disease, a health department official said on Friday.

Odisha's COVID-19 tally mounted to 22,693 with record 1,594 fresh cases in a day, while the death toll surged to 120 as six more people succumbed to the disease, a health department official said on Friday. The state also registered a significant recovery with 808 patients recuperating from the disease. A total of 15,201 patients have so far recovered from the infection, which is 66.98 per cent of the caseload.

The state's active cases now stand at 7,339. Odisha's coronavirus hotspot Ganjam district accounted for the maximum number of 732 new cases, followed by Khurda with 320 cases and Cuttack 136, he said.

A total of 1,067 fresh cases were reported from quarantine centres, the official said, adding that contact tracing and follow-up action are underway. "Regret to inform the demise of six coronavirus patients while under treatment in hospitals," the department said in a release.

Three fatalities were recorded in Ganjam and one each in Rayagada, Gajapati and Bhadrak districts, the official said, adding that in most of the cases where death occurred, the patients were also suffering from diabetes, hypertension and chronic kidney diseases. Since Thursday, the state has conducted swab tests of 11,647 people, taking the total number of such clinical examinations to 4,33,578 so far.

Meanwhile, the health department said a 48-year-old woman from Cuttack, who was to be administered plasma therapy, has recovered from COVID-19 and will be discharged on Friday. So far, 13 patients in Odisha have received plasma therapy and most of them are recovering, the department said on Twitter.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik reiterated his appeal to recovered patients to come forward for plasma donation. He also engaged 19 ministers to visit different districts and motivate such people to donate plasma for the treatment of critically ill patients. Patnaik said the plasma of one cured person can save the lives of two critically ill patients. He said the COVID-19 patients will be provided free of cost plasma in the state as the government considers every life is precious.

The state government has now decided to open two more plasma banks in MKCG Medical College Hospital In Berhampur and another at Capital Hospital in Bhubaneswar. Meanwhile, Ganjam District Magistsrsate-cum-Collector V A Kulange said that the rise in cases is mainly due to extensive door-to-door surveillance, intensified screening, and the return of more than four lakh migrants to the district.

The capital city of Bhubaneswar in Khurda district also reported the highest spike in COVID-19 cases with 248 people, including an MLA and his wife along with five employees of Odisha Legislative Assembly, testing positive for the virus in the last 24 hours. With this, the state capital's COVID-19 tally now stands at 1,717, including 870 active cases, 834 recoveries and 11 deaths.

Though Bhubaneswar reported the state's first COVID-19 case on March 15, it was declared coronavirus-free on May 18. However, the total cases in the capital city had surged to 320 by June 30. The city has added 1,397 new cases during 24 days of July.