E-Paper
Record 755 new Covid-19 cases push Odisha’s tally near 12k, state to add 2,000 beds
With cases rising significantly, the state government has now decided to set up six more Covid Hospitals in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack and add over 2,000 beds. The state has over 5,500 beds in Covid hospitals and another 21,000 beds at Covid care centres for patients with mild symptoms.
Odisha recorded its highest single-day surge in Covid-19 cases as 755 new cases were reported on Friday, taking the total infections to 11, 956 cases.
The record surge pushed the daily growth rate to 6.74 percent and sample positivity rate to 11.69 per cent, both higher than national rate, straining the government’s available resources to fight the pandemic. Of the 755 cases, Ganjam district alone contributed 42 per cent of the total load.
On the bright side, Friday also saw the biggest ever recoveries in a single day as 565 Covid patients were discharged from hospitals.
Meanwhile, the Covid-19 death toll in Odisha rose to 56 after four more people succumbed to coronavirus infection in the last 24 hours. All four deaths were reported from Ganjam district. In addition, two more Covid patients died due to other health issues.
With cases rising significantly, the state government has now decided to set up six more Covid Hospitals in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack and add over 2,000 beds. The state has over 5,500 beds in Covid hospitals and another 21,000 beds at Covid care centres for patients with mild symptoms.
The state will also ramp up rapid antigen tests to 2,000 tests per day in a fortnight. Director of Institute of Life Sciences Dr Ajay Parida said Odisha will conduct 6,000 RT-PCR tests a day to detect COVID. He said 30,000 antigen test kits have arrived in the state and orders for one lakh more kits will be placed soon.
