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Odisha records highest single-day surge of Covid deaths
Ganjam reported three deaths, and one each was recorded from Kendrapara, Khurda and Rayagada districts, as the overall toll rose to 48 in the state.
Odisha on Wednesday recorded the maximum number of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) related deaths on a single day at 6, while the state capital, Bhubaneswar, reported the highest single-day spike at 46 cases.
The coastal Ganjam district, the epicentre of the viral outbreak in the state because of its high migrant population, who have largely returned from Surat following the easing of lockdown restrictions, has sealed its border with adjoining Khurda and Nayagarh districts and a 24-hour travel restriction has been enforced by the district authorities.
Ganjam reported three deaths, and one each was recorded from Kendrapara, Khurda and Rayagada districts, as the overall toll rose to 48 in the state.
In Ganjam district, which has reported over 2,800 Covid-19 positive cases so far, a man (56), a senior citizen (64), and a woman (50) died of the viral outbreak. Both the senior citizen and the women had a comorbid condition such as diabetes.
In Rayagada district, a Covid-19 patient (50) suffering from the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), died. While in Kendrapara district, a diabetic Covid-19 patient (55) has died.
In Bhubaneswar, a human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) positive patient, who had tested Covid-19, however, succumbed to the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), doctors said.
So far, 13 such deaths – Covid-19 positive patients succumbing to comorbid conditions -- have been reported in Odisha.
Of the 48 deaths recorded in the state, a 27-year-old youth from Ganjam district is the youngest to date. He worked as a science teacher, but volunteered as a frontline worker battling the pandemic at a quarantine centre in the district’s Kabisuryanagar block.
He showed Covid-19 symptoms and was admitted to a Covid-19 care centre at Aska before he was shifted to SUM Hospital in Bhubaneswar, where he died on July 3, even before his test result was made available.
However, the hospital authorities did not hand over his body to his family members since they suspected him of being infected by SARS-CoV-2, which causes Covid-19.
His parents couldn’t bear the tragic death of their son and died by suicide at his native village.
While an 80-year-old man, who was suffering from COPD, is the oldest person in Odisha to die of Covid-19 so far.
Most of the Covid-19 victims in the state are in the age group between 35 and 73 years.
Dr. Rashmi Ranjan Satpathy, joint director of public health, non-communicable diseases (NCDs), Odisha, at least 1.4 million people in the state are at risk because of their comorbid conditions.
“So far about 60 lakh people above the age of 30 have been screened for NCDs such as diabetes, hypertension and cancer of whom 10-15% of them have been found to be suffering from these diseases. Odisha’s 1.4 million population is in the high-risk category,” he said.
In July, Odisha has been reporting a spike in both Covid-19 positive cases and deaths.
Of the total 10,624 cases recorded so far, 31% of them have been reported in July alone.
Similarly, of the 48 deaths, 45% have been recorded in July.
Bhubaneswar, which recorded its single-day highest spike of 46 Covid-19 positive cases, has sealed its two Regional Transport Offices (RTO), an information technology (IT) major’s business process outsourcing (BPO) unit, a godown of a courier company and two branches of a private bank.
Saptagiri Ulaka, the Congress member of Parliament (MP) from Koraput, said the bid to ban on the Ganjam-Khurda inter-district movement for 24 hours on Wednesday is a thoughtless knee-jerk reaction. “If the situation demands, the state government should declare complete shutdown of Odisha rather than changing rules every now and then, which is aggravating people’s problems,” the MP tweeted.
