Bhubaneswar: With the passing of each day, Covid-19 cases in Odisha are touching new heights, making the health officials worry.
The cases on Friday crossed the 2500 mark and are heading towards 3,000. The infection trend indicated that the daily infection rate will touch the 3,000 mark in the next one or two days.
On Friday, the State reported 2703 fresh Covid-19 cases, which is 42 per cent more than the cases reported on the previous day. The State had registered 1897 cases on Thursday.
According to the State Health Department, 2,703 Covid cases including 409 children in the 0 to 18 years age group have been reported today. Khordha district, which includes Bhubaneswar city, logged the highest 926 cases, followed by Sundergarh (454), Cuttack (191), Sambalpur (179) and Jharsuguda (106). All other districts reported less than 100 cases.
The number of fresh cases jumped more than nine-fold from 298 infections on January 1 and more than doubled in just two days from 1,216 on Tuesday. There were 1,216 infections on Wednesday.
The daily test positivity rate (TPR) has been increased to 3.92 per cent in the State on Friday from 2.62 per cent.
Odisha now has 8,237 active cases. With the confirmation of another death due to Covid, the death toll in the State mounted to 8468.
Khurda re-entered the list of red zone districts where active cases are above 2,500, while Sundargarh joined the yellow zone with 1,068 active cases.
The caseload in the State rose to 10.62 lakh, including 10.46 lakh recoveries as 204 patients recuperated in the last 24 hours. The State tested 68,970 samples during the period, it said.
More than 2.96 crore people have been inoculated with the first dose of the coronavirus vaccine and over 2.17 crore administered the second dose in the stat
Meanwhile, Health and Family Welfare Minister Naba Kisore Das has been tested positive for Covid-19. Taking to twitter, Mr.Das said, “I was tested asymptomatic Covid positive yesterday and now in home isolation. I request all those who have come in physical contact with me in the last 3 days to get themselves tested”.
The State Government has imposed night curfew in all urban areas from 9 pm today onwards, till January 31. Twin city Police Commissioner Saumendra Priyadarshi urged everyone to follow guidelines; otherwise strict action will be taken against the violators.
The State has also reduced the staff attendance in its all offices to 50 per cent. Moreover, RTPCR test has been made mandatory for all travelers deboarding at Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA) here.
The Veer Surendra Sai University of Technology (VSSUT) in Sambalpur has postponed all the offline exams and classes in view of the emerging Covid-19 situation.
