Odisha logs 138 new COVID-19 cases, tally at 3,34,667

Odisha's COVID-19 tally onWednesday mounted to 3,34,667 as 138 more people testedpositive for the disease, a health department official said.

The state also registered 108 patients recuperatingfrom the disease, taking the total number of COVID-19 curedpersons to 3,31,535, which is 99.06 per cent of the caseload,he said.

Odisha's case fatality rate (CFR) now stands at 0.56per cent, the official said.

Of the 108 new cases, 81 were reported from quarantinecentres and 57 detected during contact tracing.

Cuttack district recorded the highest number of freshcases at 26, followed by Nuapada and Sundargarh at 15 each.

Six districts -- Dhenkanal, Kandhamal, Kendrapara,Koraput, Nayagarh and Nabarangpur -- did not register any newcase since Tuesday, the official said.

The death toll remained at 1,906 as no new fatalitydue to the infection was reported in the last 24 hours, hesaid.

Official sources said 1,78,227 people have receivedCOVID-19 vaccine in the state so far.

''The state has achieved 92 per cent immunisationcoverage as it has set a target to vaccinate 1,92,555healthcare workers in the first phase,'' Health and FamilyWelfare Director Bijay Panigrahi said.

He also said the next phase of the inoculation driveresumed in Bhubaneswar on Wednesday and will begin in otherparts of the state on January 28.

All healthcare workers who are remaining absent fromvaccination after receiving a message, will not be given afurther chance for free vaccination by the government,Panigrahi said.

A 27-year-old healthcare worker of the NuapadaDistrict Headquarters Hospital died on Tuesday, three daysafter taking the COVID-19 vaccine. The state health departmentsaid his death was not related to vaccination.

So far, 19 persons administered with COVID-19 vaccinein Odisha have shown side effects, a senior official said.

Of the 1,906 COVID-19 fatalities reported in the stateso far, Khurda districts accounted for 335, followed by Ganjam(248), Sundargarh (173), Cuttack (141) and Puri (117).

Fifty-three other COVID-19 patients have also died dueto comorbidity, the official said.

Odisha now has 1,173 active COVID-19 cases, which is0,35 per cent of the caseload.

The government also started RT-PCR tests for servitorsof the Lord Jagannath Temple in Puri from Wednesday.

The state has so far conducted over 76.12 lakh sampletests for COVID-19, including 24,110 on Tuesday, and thepositivity rate stands at 4.4 per cent, he added.