Bhubaneswar: The Covid-19 tally in Odisha jumped to 3,48,182 on Saturday after 1,374 more people tested positive for the infection, the highest single-day rise this year, while the death toll rose to 1926 with the death of two more patients in the last 24 hours in the State informed the Health and Family Welfare (H&FW) Department.
Of the new cases detected from 28 districts of the State today, 812 were reported from quarantine centres while the rest 562 were local transmission cases, said a data released by the Information and Public Relations Department (I&PR).
Sundargarh reported the highest 355 cases followed by Khorhda (193), Nuapada (135), Sambalpur (77), Bargarh (59), Jharsuguda (52), Cuttack (51), Rayagada (47) and Kalahandi (45).
With the inclusion of Saturday’s figure, the number of active coronavirus cases in the State surged to 7,003 while 3,39,200 patients have been cured or recovered from the disease, as per the data released by the State Health and Family Welfare (H&FW) Department on Saturday.
The State has so far tested a total of 93,38,708 samples including 33,996 on Thursday.
Meanwhile, with Odisha’s daily Covid-19 cases witnessing a sudden surge, the State government has made it compulsory for incoming railway passengers to produce a negative RT-PCR report on their arrival.
East Coast Railway (ECoR) has made it clear that RT-PCR test report will be mandatory for the railway passengers coming to Odisha from today. Odisha’s positivity rate stands at 3.73 per cent, a data released by the State Health and Family Welfare department stated.
The report should be obtained not more than 72 hours before entry into the State. Besides a Covid-19 negative report, a person can also produce a final vaccination certificate, an official order stated.
Earlier, the Special Relief Commissioner’s office has issued an order that people coming to Odisha by any public transport, such as train, bus, aeroplane or waterways will have to produce a negative RT-PCR report.
The State government has also suspended all public transport from Odisha to Chhattisgarh and vice versa till April 30. The transport department has been asked to set up border check points at strategic locations and border entry points to manage the entry of incoming persons.
(Edited by Rashmi Ranjan Mohanty)