Odisha's Covid-19 caseload nears 20,000-mark with 1,078 fresh infections; death toll mounts to 108

Odisha's Covid-19 caseload inched towards the 20,000-mark as the state reported its highest single-day spike of 1,078 new cases on Wednesday, a health official said.

Five more patients succumbed to Covid-19, pushing the death toll in the state due to the coronavirus to 108, he said.

The fresh infections have taken the state's virus count to 19,835, of which 6,387 cases are active and 13,309 people have recovered, the official said.

Ganjam, the worst-hit district in the state, reported three fresh fatalities, while Gajapati and Kandhamal registered one death each, he said, adding all the deceased people were suffering from diabetes.

A 40-year-old woman and two men, aged 61 and 60, died due to Covid-19 in Ganjam. Two men, aged 72 and 86, died in Gajapati and Kandhamal districts respectively, the official said.

"Regret to report the demise of five Covid positive patients while undergoing treatment in hospital," the health department said in a statement.

Ganjam accounted for 62 of the 108 Covid-19 deaths reported in the state so far, while other districts that registered a high number of such fatalities are Khurda (14), Cuttack (9) and Gajapati (6).

Deaths due to the coronavirus were also reported in 11 other districts, the official said.

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Another 59-year-old Covid-19 patient died in Ganjam district due to chronic liver disease, taking the toll of coronavirus patients dying due to other ailments in the state to 31, the official said.

As many as 721 fresh cases were detected from quarantine centres while a record number of 357 people tested positive for the infection during local contact tracing, he said.

Ganjam district reported the highest number of new cases at 371, followed by Khurda (121), Rayagada (96), Mallkangiri (66) and Cuttack (57), he said.

The Koraput district administration, in a statement, said two BSF personnel are among the 15 new cases reported in the district, taking the number of jawans of the paramilitary force testing positive for the infection in the state so far to 55.

Odisha has tested 4,10,921 samples for Covid-19 till date, including 9,277 during the last 24 hours.