Bhubaneswar, Jun 7 (UNI) One more Covid-19 patient died in Odisha taking the total coronavirus casualty in the state to 9 while the Covid-19 positive cases soared to 2856 with detection of 75 fresh cases during the last 24 hours.
Health and family Welfare department sources said a 55 year old man from the hot spot Ganjam district succumbed to the Covid-19.
The Health Department tweeted: “Regret to inform that a 55 year old male patient of Ganjam, who had tested positive for Covid-19, has passed away, while under treatment in hospital. He was suffering from Tuberculosis and other comorbidities.”
With the latest casualty, the Ganjam district having the highest positive cases of 597,reported four deaths so far. Of the rest five Covid-19 deaths, Khordha has claimed four and one died in Cuttack district.
Official sources said out of 75 positive cases reported form the state during the last 24 hours from 16 districts, highest number of 18 each reported from Khordha and Sundararh district,followed by Jajpur (7) and five each from Cuttack and Bolangir district.
Of the 75 cases, 72 were reported from the quarantine centres and three are local cases.
So far 1,76,098 samples have been tested in the state and the total Covid-19 positive case stands at 2856 with 1716 recoveries, including 112 recovered yesterday.
The state has 129 active cases and the casualty figure rose to 11, nine of them in Covid-19 and the rest two due to reasons other than Covid-19, official sources said.
The state government , meanwhile, asked all the foreign returnees to cooperate and take calls on their registered numbers from the 104/State Call Centre .
Keeping phones in switched off mode or non acknowledgement of calls will be viewed as jumping of home quarantine and liable to be prosecuted as per penal provisions, the health department warned.
The 48 hours weekend shutdown in eleven Covid-19 prone districts, continued for the second day today throwing the normal life out of gear.
The state government, considering the gravity of the Covid-19 situation in 11 districts, have announced shutdown on every Saturday and Sunday in June and asked the people to stay home unless and until there is no immediate emergency.
The eleven districts where the shutdown is in force, have accounted for over 80 per cent of the total Covid-19 positive cases in the state.
At least nine of the eleven districts have reported more than hundred Covid-19 positive cases.
With 18 more fresh cases, the total Covid-19 positive in Khordha district has gone up to 244,the third highest in the state while Jajpur district with 319 positive cases, stood second in the district tally.
The tribal dominated Sundargarh district has reported fresh 18 cases taking the total Covid-19 positive cases in the district to 99, one short from the century.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has described the month of June as very crucial for Odisha in the context of Covid-19.
With the impact of about 5 Lakh migrants returning to the State and advent of monsoon, our success in the battle against Covid-19 shall depend on management for the coming 25 days, he said in a video message to the people of the state.
Although Ganjam district with the arrival of a large number of migrants, mostly from Surat, has topped the list in both total positive and active cases, the district collector had denied any community transmission till date .
Experts said the impact of Covid-19 will be known in the next 15 days in the state as already over five lakh people have arrived in the state and local cases are rising over past few days.
Meanwhile, the Khordha district collector has extended the institutional quarantine period in the district to 14 days in view of positive cases being reported from the person who have completed seven days institutional quarantine and allowed to stay home quarantined for next seven days.
Senior BJP leader and leader of Opposition in Assembly, Pradepta Kumar Nayak has meanwhile, urged the state government to extend the institutional quarantine period in the rural areas to 14 days, instead of seven days to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
He said releasing the returnees after seven days of institutional quarantine and sending them one week in home quarantine will be disastrous as the majority of the returnees in rural areas could not maintain the quarantine guidelines in their house risking the lives of other people.
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