Bhubaneswar, Sep 18: Odisha’s COVID-19 tally rose to 1,71,341 on Friday as 4,180 more people tested positive for the infection, while 13 fresh fatalities took the state’s coronavirus death toll to 682, a health official said. As many as 4,101 patients also recovered from the disease taking the number of people cured of the infection to 1,37,567, which is 80.28 per cent of the caseload.
The state’s recovery rate crossed 80 per cent for the first time. Odisha, however, continues to report more than 4,000 new cases for the third consecutive day on Friday. The state had registered 4,270 infections on Wednesday and 4,241 on Thursday, the official said.
Khurda district, under which Bhubaneswar falls, continued to register the highest number of new cases at 688, followed by Cuttack (492) and Jajpur (184), he said. Three fatalities were reported in Khurda, including one in Bhubaneswar, two each in Kendrapara and Puri districts and one each in Bargarh, Bolangir, Cuttack, Gajapati, Kandhamal and Mayurbhanj districts, the official said.
Ganjam district has so far reported the highest number of coronavirus deaths at 215, followed by Khurda (103) and Cuttack (56), he said. The state now has 33,039 active cases, the official said.
Fifty-three coronavirus patients have died due to the other ailments so far, he said. Odisha has so far tested over 26.67 lakh samples for COVID-19, including 48,146 on Thursday, the official added.
Meanwhile, National Health Mission, Odisha director Shalini Pandit said that more than 70 per cent of the active COVID-19 patients including ministers, MLAs and senior bureaucrats are in home isolation. “Patients feel good and recover fast in homely ambience,” said Dr CBK Mohanty of the Directorate of Medical Education and Training.
The state government also issued a WhatsApp number, 9937564066, for addressing COVID-related queries, an official said adding that people can share their questions in that number between 3 pm and 3.30 pm while doctors and experts will reply to them at press briefings. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik in a statement said that the state’s fight is with the coronavirus and not with the infected people.
“Our behaviour with infected people in fighting COVID-19 shall ensure the victory of humanity,” Patnaik said..
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