Odisha's COVID-19 caseload nears 20,000-mark; 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 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, reported three fresh fatalities, while Gajapati and Kandhamal registered one death each, he said, adding all the deceased 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, while other districts that registered a high number of fatalities are Khurda (14), Cuttack (9) and Gajapati (6).

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

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.

Ganjam district has posed a challenge for the state as over 1,000 positive cases have been reported here in less than a weeks time.

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.

Meanwhile, the Odisha capital also witnessed another record spike in COVID-19 cases with 91 people testing positive for the virus in the last 24 hours, which took the tally to 1,343.

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

While reviewing the corona situation in Jajpur and Sundergarh districts, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik sanctioned Rs 5 crore for each district from the CMs Relief Fund for augmenting the medical infrastructure.

Patnaik also allowed the Jajpur district administration to spend Rs 13.5 crore from the District Mineral Foundation to enhance the Covid Care system.

An additional 250 beds will be operationalised in the Covid Care Centre in Jajpur as the district authorities were told to create partnerships with corporates and industry.

Since Rourkela city in Sundergarh district has emerged as a hostpot, Patnaik asked authorities to start plasma therapy in the Ispat Government Hospital in the steel city.

Further, Rs 15 crore will be spent in the next three months for strengthening capacities of Dedicated Covid Hospital and Covid Care centres, an official said adding that the number of beds in the Covid Care Centre in Rourkela will be raised from 700 to 1700.

"I am glad to know that the district administration is working closely with Corporates like RSP, NTPC, MCL, OCL etc for creating Covid Care Homes and Covid Care Centres," Patnaik said.

Meanwhile, a review revealed that within a very short period of time, seven industrial houses have made their COvid Care Centres operational.

They are Tata Power at Jajpur and Duburi, Grasim Industries Ltd at Ganjam, RSP at Rourkela, IOCL at Paradeep, Mahanadi Coal Field at Lakhanpur and Jharsuguda and Jindal Stainless Ltd at Jajpur Road.