Odisha's COVID-19 tally crosses 24,000-mark; death toll climbs to 130

Odisha's COVID-19 tally crossed 24,000 on Saturday as 1,320 more people tested positive for the disease, while the death toll rose to 130 with a record single-day spike of 10 fatalities, a Health Department official said.

Three out of the 10 new fatalities were from Ganjam, the worst-hit district by the pandemic, two each from Balasore and Sundargarh, and one death each was reported from Gajapati, Jharsuguda and Rayagada, he said.

"Ten people, including a woman, died due to COVID-19 while undergoing treatment in hospitals. This is the highest single-day spike in the death toll. Six of them had co-morbidities. The deceased were aged between 30 and 61," the health official said.

With 1,320 new cases, the total number of infections rose to 24,013, he said.

A total of 887 new patients have been detected in different quarantine centres, while 433 were found through contact-tracing exercises, the official said.

There has been a steep rise in the death toll during the current month, as the number of fatalities due to the coronavirus infection was at 25 by the end of June, he said.

"In most of the cases where death occurred, the patients were also suffering from diabetes, hypertension and chronic diseases," the official added.

Of the 130 deaths so far in the state, Ganjam reported 73, followed by Khurda (15), Cuttack (nine), Gajapati (eight), Sundargarh and Rayagada (four each), Angul, Balasore, Bhadrak, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara and Puri (two each).

One death each has been reported from Bargarh, Jajpur, Kandhamal, Nayagarh and Jharsuguda, the official said.

Thirty-three other coronavirus patients had died but their deaths were attributed to "non-COVID reasons", he said.

This is the third consecutive day when more than 1,000 fresh cases have been reported in a day in Odisha, Health and Family Welfare Department's Additional Chief Secretary P K Mohapatra said.

"The surge in the number of COVID-19 cases is temporary. It has increased due to active surveillance in hotspot districts," he said.

The fresh cases were reported from 24 districts.

The maximum of 560 new cases were detected in Ganjam, a "coronavirus hotspot" district, followed by Khurda (174), Puri and Gajapati (90 each), Rayagada (60) and Sundargarh (47).

There are 8,650 active cases, while 15,201 patients have recovered from the disease.

A total of 12,733 samples were tested in the past 24 hours, the official added. 

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