COVID-19 in Odisha : Death toll mounts to 8, cases cross 2,600

Odisha recorded its eighth COVID-19-related death on Friday as 130 fresh cases pushed the total number of coronavirus cases in the state to more than 2,600, an official said.

A 63-year-old-man of Khurda district died of the highly infectious disease in a hospital, a health department official said.

A total of 130 fresh cases were reported during the day taking the number of those affected to 2,608, while 123 patients recovered from the disease, the official said.

The state had reported the first COVID-19 death on April 6, the official said.

"Regret to inform that a 63-year-old male patient of Khurda district who had tested positive for COVID, passed away while under treatment in hospital," a statement issued by the health department said.

The victim is the fourth COVID-19 patient from Khurda district to die of the deadly disease. Three other casualties were reported from Ganjam and one from Cuttack, the official said.

Of the 130 fresh cases reported during the day, 124 were from various quarantine centres where people returning from different states are staying. The others who tested positive have no travel history, the official said.

The fresh cases were reported from 21 districts with Cuttack reporting the maximum at 23, followed by 22 each from Khurda and Mayurbhanj districts. Ganjam reported 12 cases, Gajapati and Sundergarh seven each and Koraput six.

Four cases each were reported from Bargarh and Bhadrak, three each from Jajpur, Bolangir, Kandhamal and Kalahandi, two each from Dhenkanal, Keonkjhar and Kendrapara districts and one each from Sonpeur, Angul, Jagatsinghpur, Rayagada and Puri districts, the official said

Of the 123 recovered patients, 35 have been cured in Ganjam district, 22 in Cuttack, 14 each in Nuapada and Balangir, 10 in Khurda, seven in Kandhamal, five in Koraput, four in Kendrapada, three each in Balasore, Dhenkanal and Nayagarh, and one each in Angul, Mayurbhanj and Sundargarh, the health and family welfare department said.

Odisha's coronavirus statistics now stand at -- 2,608 total cases of which 994 are active, 1,604 recoveries and eight deaths, the official said.

The state has so far tested 1,69,010 samples for COVID-19.

Of the 30 districts in the state, eight have already reported more than 100 COVID-19 cases. These are Ganjam (533), Jajpur(293), Khurda (217), Balasore (179), Kendrapara (163), Cuttack (154), Bhadrak (136) and Bolangir (105).

As migrant workers continue to return, the state government has set up 16,797 temporary medical centres in 6,798 gram panchayats where 7,58,555 beds are arranged for institutional quarantine, an official said.