Bhubaneswar: Odisha continued to report 1000-plus Covid-19 cases for the third consecutive day with 1379 new cases being reported from different parts of the State in the last 24 hours. This is another highest single-day spike reported so far this year.
State Information and Public Relations Department (I&PR) on Sunday informed that out of the total 1379 new cases, 808 were reported from quarantine centres while the rest 571 were local contact cases.
Sundargarh reported maximum 317 cases, followed by Khordha (158), Sambalpur (86), Nuapada (90), Nabarangpur (71), Bargarh (68), Cuttack (56), Bolangir (54), Mayurbhanj (49), Puri (43), Jharsuguda (42).
With this, the active Covid-19 caseload in the State surged to 7,979 while 1,926 patients have succumbed to the virus so far. As many as 3,39,603 have been cured or recovered from the disease, as per the data released by the State Health and Family Welfare (H&FW) Department.
The State has so far tested a total of 93, 70,359 samples including 31,651 on Saturday. Odisha’s positivity rate stands at 3.73 per cent, added the H&FW Department.
Amid the surge in Covid-19 cases, especially in the western belts of the State, the government has sealed its border with Chhattisgarh and intensified patrolling along the interstate boundary.
Chief Secretary Suresh Chandra Mahapatra, who visited the western districts of Kalahandi and Nuapada yesterday, has asked officials to reinitialize awareness campaigns, and take strict action against people if they fail to abide by the health protocols.
The State will observe Tika (vaccine) Utsav today following the call given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Earlier, 2.50 lakh Covishield vaccines reached Odisha on Saturday and the State will get more vaccines in a phased manner, the additional chief secretary of the health department, Pradipta Mohapatra told on Saturday.
(Edited By Vikash Sharma)