E-Paper
Over 70 school, medical students test positive for Covid-19 in Odisha
Fifty-three girls in a government-aided school in the Sundargarh and 22 students of Veer Surendra Sai Institute of Medical Sciences and Research in Sambalpur tested positive for Covid-19.
More than 70 students, including 53 girls, tested positive for coronavirus disease (Covid-19) in Odisha’s Sundargarh and Sambalpur districts in the last three days, a report said on Tuesday.
According to news agency PTI, 53 girls in a government-aided St Merry Girls' School in Odisha's Sundargarh and 22 students of Veer Surendra Sai Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (VIMSAR) in Sambalpur tested positive for Covid-19.
"The girls have been isolated and special provisions have been made for their treatment. Their health condition is normal, while the educational institute has been shut for a week," Sister Petrica, the headmistress of high school, was quoted as saying by PTI.
The headmistress said that those infected are students of classes 8, 9 and 10, and they were tested for Covid-19 after a majority of them exhibited symptoms of cold and cough.
Also read | Odisha allows jatra shows with a maximum audience of 2000 people
The 22 students of VIMSAR in Burla have been admitted to the Covid hospital. Authorities suspect that the infection might have spread after the institute's annual function, which was held recently.
Health expert Dr Narayan Mishra told PTI that the sudden spurt in cases in the western districts of Sundargarh and Sambalpur is a cause of concern even as Odisha has witnessed a significant drop in the number of infections.
Data showed Odisha’s coronavirus tally rose to 10,47,386 on Tuesday after 212 people, including 70 children, tested positive for Covid-19 and two fresh fatalities pushed the state’s death toll to 8,396.
Also read | India's daily Covid tally further down at 7,579; active cases drop by nearly 5k
Khurda district, under which Bhubaneswar falls, registered the highest number of new cases at 90, followed by Sundargarh at 39 and Mayurbhanj at 13 infections.
Out of the 212 new Covid-19 cases, 123 were reported in quarantine centres, while the remaining 89 infections were detected during contact tracing. Fourteen of the 30 districts have not recorded any new cases.
The rate of infection among those in the 0-18 age group was recorded at 33.01 per cent against 19.88 per cent on the previous day.
Also read | Serum Institute to resume supply of Covishield to COVAX: Reports
There were 171 cases on Monday, 205 on Sunday, 239 on Saturday, and 242 on Friday in Odisha. The state now has 2,191 active cases of Covid-19, 10,36,746 people have recovered from the disease so far, including 245 in the last 24 hours.
Odisha's cumulative positivity rate stands at 4.48 per cent and the daily test positivity rate at 0.44 per cent.
(With PTI inputs)
