Odisha’s COVID-19 tally crosses 16,000-mark; death toll reaches 83

The COVID-19 tally in Odisha crossed the 16,000-mark as 718 more people tested positive for coronavirus, while the death toll reached 83 with four patients succumbing to the disease, a Health Department official said on Friday.

With 718 new cases, the state's infection tally rose to 16,110, he said.

"Regret to inform the demise of four COVID positive patients while under treatment in hospitals," the health department said in a statement.

Two fatalities were reported from Ganjam district while one each from Gajapati and Angul district, taking the death toll to 83, it added.

Two deceased persons from Ganjam district - aged 56 and 60 - had diabetes and kidney disease, while a 66-year-old man who died in Angul district was suffering from neuroendocrine tumour, the official said.

A 56-year-old COVID-19 patient who died in Gajapati district had diabetes and heart disease, he said.

Of the 83 fatalities, Ganjam district alone accounts for 50 deaths followed by Khurda (13), Cuttack (eight), two each from Angul, Gajapati and Puri, and one each from Baragah, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Kendrapara, Rayagada and Sundergarh districts.

Two other COVID-19 patients also died in the state. However, their death was due to other reasons, the official said.

A 62-year-old woman from Jajpur district passed away due to cancer of cervix, stomach, lungs and brain, while a 55-year-old man from Bhadrak district died due to seizure disorder, the official said.

With this, the number of COVID-19 patients dying due to other reasons increased to 26, he added.

Of the 718 new COVID-19 cases, 479 have been reported from different quarantine centres while the remaining 239 are local contacts. Contact tracing and follow-up action is underway, the department said.

Odisha's coronavirus hotspot Ganjam district reported a maximum of 231 cases followed by Khurda (150), Malkangiri (54), Cuttack (32), Keonjhar (28), Koraput (27), Jharsuguda (24), Mayurbhanj (22), Gajapati (21), Rayagada (19), Nayagarh (134), Bhadrak and Sundergarh (10 each).

Ten other districts reported new cases in single digits.

At present, there are 5,124 active cases, while 10,877 patients have recovered from the disease so far.

In the last 24 hours, 7,818 swab samples were tested for COVID-19, taking the total number of tests conducted so far in the state to 3,69,738.