Odisha's COVID-19 tally rises to 94,668; death toll mounts to 456

Odisha reported its highest single-day spike in COVID-19 cases on Friday as 3,682 more people, including 218 jail inmates and staffers, tested positive for the infection, while eight more fatalities pushed the state's coronavirus death toll to 456, a health official said.

Odisha reported its highest single-day spike in COVID-19 cases on Friday as 3,682 more people, including 218 jail inmates and staffers, tested positive for the infection, while eight more fatalities pushed the state's coronavirus death toll to 456, a health official said. The state had registered its previous highest-single day spike of 3,384 new cases on Thursday.

The fresh infections reported from all the 30 districts have taken the state's COVID-19 tally to 94,668, he said. Ganjam and Khurda districts reported two fresh fatalities each, while one death each was registered in Bargarh, Bhadrak, Bolangir and Rayagada districts, the official said.

Ganjam accounted for 185 of the 456 COVID-19 deaths reported in Odisha so far, followed by 59 in Khurda district, he said, adding 53 patients have died due to other ailments. As many as 2,241 fresh infections were detected in quarantine centres, while 1,441 people tested positive for the infection during contact tracing, the official said.

Khurda district, under which Bhubaneswar falls, reported the highest number of fresh cases at 775, followed by Rayagada (495), Cuttack (369) and Mayurbhanj (272), he said. A total of 218 inmates and staffers of two jails in Rayagada district tested positive for the infection, Collector Pramod Behera said.

As many as 157 people, including five staffers, in Rayagada sub-jail and 61 prisoners in Gunupur sub-jail tested positive for COVID-19, he said. "They have been kept in isolation and are undergoing treatment inside the prisons. Both the jails are being sanitised," Behera said.

The fresh infections have pushed the number of active COVID-19 cases in the state to 26,333, the health official said. As many as 2,503 people were cured of the disease, taking the total number of recoveries to 67,826, he said.

The recovery rate among the COVID-19 patients in the state stands at 71.64 per cent, the official said. The state has so far tested 16,12,097 samples for COVID-19, including 58,840 on Thursday, he said.