Bhubaneswar: Odisha recorded 1342 new covid cases and 68 deaths in the past 24 hours taking the total caseload to 9,83,523 and 6236 fatalities in the state.
During the period 1630 covid patients were cured of the state pushing the total recoveries in the state to 9,63,718, registering 97.9 per cent of the total covid cases.
The Active cases were further reduced to 13,516 which is 1.97 per cent of the total caseload in the state. Khordha district has the highest number of 4217 active cases followed by Cuttack ( 1775).
These two districts have 44.3 per cent of the total active cases in the state.
The Test Positivity Rate(TPR) however has been recording a marginal rise in the last four days from1.53 per cent on August 1 to 2.02 per cent in the past 24 hours.
For the third time, all the 30 districts in the state registered the TPR less than 5 per cent and as many as 17 of the total 30 districts in the state recorded TPR less than one per cent.
Health and Family Welfare Department sources said out of 1342 new cases,775 were reported from the quarantine centres and 567 as local contact cases. Khordha district registered the highest number of 477 cases followed by Cuttack(164).
These two coastal districts together accounted for 47.7 per cent of the total daily caseload reported in the past 24 hours. The other 28 districts in the state, however, reported less than 100 cases.
Similarly, during the past 24 hours, 68 covid patients under treatment succumbed to the virus.
Khordha district alone reported 13 deaths followed by 12 each in Puri and Sundargarh and eleven deaths in Cuttack district.
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik in a video message on Wednesday expressed concern over the heavy rush of people in the markets during the unlock process and warned that complete lockdown would be imposed if they do not follow the covid guidelines strictly.
In a message to the people of the state, Mr Patnaik said the experts have warned about the third wave of the corona. Which has taken a serious shape in many parts of the world.
In this situation any laxity in the observance of covid guidelines may create a serious situation in the state, Mr Patnaik said and appealed to the people to follow the covid protocols and cooperate with the administration in the fight against the coronavirus.