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The last seven days were reportedly the lethal period since the pandemic outbreak in India. More than 27000 persons succumbed to Covid-19 last week and 27.4 lakh cases detected during the period. The daily cases however dropped below 4 lakh for the first time in 5 days as single-day infections stood at 3,66,902 in the country on Sunday. The country witnessed deaths of 3754 people due to Covid in last 24 hours

As many as 10031 Covid positive cases in Odisha in the last 24 hours pushed the state’s virus tally to 544873. There was no significant change witnessed in the Covid graph as Test Positivity Rate (TPR) still continues to remain above 20%. The state also recorded 17 Covid-related deaths during the period. Reports suggest that Odisha’s active caseload is more than that of Delhi. While Delhi’s active case count this morning stood at 86232, Odisha’s figures stand at 94760.

Russia recently authorised the use of Sputnik Light - the single-dose version of the COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik V. Developers have claimed that the revolutionary one-shot vaccine has 80% efficacy - higher than many two-shot vaccines. While Russia has assured to provide 25 crore Sputnik Light vaccine doses to India, NITI Aayog member VK Paul said that they will examine the claim regarding single-dose Sputnik Light Covid Vaccine, and after that decide on its use.

Covid positive test report is no more mandatory for admission into a COVID health facility. Union Health Ministry on Saturday revised the National Policy for admission of Covid patients in hospitals.

India logged as many as 4,03,738 fresh Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours, taking the overall virus tally to 2.22 crore. Daily deaths remained over 4000. It is the fifth time after May 1 that India saw over 4 lakh daily infections and over 4,000 deaths for the second straight day. India's active caseload stood at 37,36,648 while 2,42,362 people have died of the disease.

Though there is no evidence that Odisha is witnessing a downtrend, the daily Covid-19 infections posted a slight decline on Sunday. While the figures stood at 11,807 on Saturday, the single-day Covid positive cases came down to 10,635 on Sunday. As many as 19 persons succumbed to the disease in the last 24 hours.

In the calmness of night, just sit down, try to pen something special for your mother. You will either spend the whole night shedding tears or end up cursing yourself for the infinite occasions where you have intentionally or unintentionally hurt her. From bringing you to this world to caring like none, protecting you, overlooking all shortcomings, to ignoring all your flaws, she has always stood by your side, no matter how thorny a situation is.

To check movement of unauthorized persons during the lockdown, the Twin City Police Commissionerate has sought special authorization for people moving out during the shutdown.

Volunteers cremate the bodies of COVID-19 victims in Ganjam district.Beyond the deaths and infections, the pandemic is having a dreadful impact on human behavior eroding humaneness by degrees.

In a bid to ramp up vaccination, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) began its Drive-In Vaccination on Saturday.

There is community transmission in Cuttack. As COVID19 cases are increasing rapidly in the city, it is suspected that there could be community transmission. Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) nodal officer expressed such concerns amid unabated rise in daily new cases of COVID19. However, the official said that the scientist of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) can only decide if we are in community transmission stage or not. People in large numbers are coming to Cuttack from outside and that is the reason why cases are rising in the city, the official said. He also said that the cases may peak in the next 5-6 days following which there will be a decline.

Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal on Saturday informed that the 'Oxygen Express' carrying oxygen tankers from Angul in Odisha reached Maharashtra's Nagpur. The Oxygen Express from Angul has reached Nagpur and will ensure a steady stream of Oxygen supply for COVID-19 patients there, the rail minister tweeted. The Oxygen Express trains were launched by the Indian Railways for transportation of medical oxygen to various states raising oxygen crisis due to surge in the Covid-19 cases.

Amid rising cases of Covid-19 in Odisha, all doctors belonging to various cadres, dental surgeons, all PG doctors, post PG doctors, interns and all the final year students have been brought under state pool for deployment in COVID duty.

A day after the Board of Secondary Education (BSE) in Odisha came up with an alternative mode of assessment for awarding marks to Class 10 students, State School and Mass Education Minister Samir Ranjan Dash on Saturday expressed hope that no student will get disappointed with the adopted methodology. Still if some students are not satisfied with their marks, they can appear for offline examination and Board will make necessary arrangements for them, the Minister clarified.

India has recorded over 4 lakh new Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours, taking the country’s total infections to over 2.18 crore. With 4,187 fatalities during the period, India recorded its highest one-day Covid deaths. The active case count in the country has surged to 37 lakh cases while over 1.79 crore people have recovered from the disease.