Odisha reports 122 new COVID-19 cases, one more fatality

Odisha's COVID-19 caseloadmounted to 3,33,566 on Tuesday as 122 more people testedpositive for the infection, while one fresh fatality pushedthe death toll to 1,902, a health department official said.

The state received the second consignment ofCovishield vaccine during the day, the official said.

Of the 122 new cases, 72 were reported from variousquarantine centres and 50 detected during contact tracing, hesaid.

Sundargarh district recorded the highest number of newcases at 26, followed by Sambalpur (23) and Puri (17).

Twelve districts did not register any new case sinceMonday, he said, adding that the fresh fatality was reportedfrom Bargarh disrict.

The state during the day also reported recovery of 250patients taking the total number of COVID-19 cured persons to3,30,051, which is 98.94 per cent of the caseload.

Odisha's case fatality ratio (CFR) also stands at 0.57per cent, he said.

Meanwhile, the state government received the secondconsignment of 28 packets comprising 3,34,500 doses ofCovisheild vaccines. The vaccines were sent to state vaccinecentre amid tight security.

As many as 14,291 beneficiaries on Tuesday receivedthe vaccine at 182 session sites across the state. About 88per cent of beneficiaries had already received the shot by 6pm, an official said, adding that five cases of vaccine sideeffects were reported during the day.

The state government appealed to people not to payheed to rumours about COVID-19 vaccines.

''COVID-19 vaccines are approved by the government,completely safe & have undergone various trials,'' the Healthand Family Welfare department said on Twitter.

''Those who were not able to turn up for vaccination onthe designated dates will receive the shots in the next phasefor free,'' Director Health and vaccine in-charge BijayPanigrahi said.

Odisha now has 1,560 active cases, which is 0.46 percent of the caseload.

The state has conducted over 74.26 lakh sample tests,including 23,553 on Monday, and the positivity rate stands at4.49 per cent.

Meanwhile, a section of healthcare professionals underthe aegis of Odisha State Male and Female Multipurpose HealthWorkers' and Supervisors' United Association had announcedthat they would not take COVID-19 vaccine as a mark of protestagainst the state government's attitude in fulfilling theirtwo demands - cadre restructuring and designation change.

On the protest by the health workers, the officialsaid they would not be given vaccines for free.