Odisha registered its highest single day spike so far this year in coronavirus cases on Wednesday when its tally surged to 3,40,917 after 297 more people tested positive for the infection amidst preparations by the state to inoculate two lakh people from Thursday, a health department official said.
The state during the day also registered the recovery of 161 patients taking the total number of cured persons to 3,37,091, which is 98.87 per cent of the caseload.
Odishas case fatality ratio (CFR) remained unchanged at 0.56 per cent while its positivity rate is 3.77 per cent, he said.
Of the 297 new cases, 174 were reported from quarantine centres, while the remaining were detected during contact tracing, he said.
Kalahandi district registered 57 new cases, followed by 38 in Sundergarh, Khurda with 33 and Nuapada with 31 acses.
Malkangiri district continued to remain COVID-19 free for a week.
The state”s coronavirus toll remained unchanged at 1,921 as no more fatalities were reported since Tuesday.
However, 53 other COVID-19 patients died in the state during the day due to comorbidities, he said.
The state currently has 1,852 active cases which is 0.54 per cent of the caseload. The number of active cases in the state has almost doubled in a span of only six days.
The number of active cases increased to 2013 on March 31 from 937 on March 24, he said.
The state has so far conducted over 90.43 lakh tests for COVID-19, including 20,874 on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the state has planned to start vaccination of persons who are aged 45 years and above from Thursday. All the districts have been given specific targets to inoculate people every day.
Though April 1 is a government holiday due to Utkala Divas, the government has decided to go ahead with state-wide vaccination programme to achieve the target of Two lakhs per day.
The additional chief secretary to the health and family welfare department P K Mohapatra has written to the District Collectors in this regard and has advised to prioritize the high risk groups among people aged 45 years and above for COVID-19 Vaccination.
The Odisha government has decided to go for vaccination on April 1 and 2 though both are holidays, Mohapatra said adding that the districts have been given the daily target of two Lakh.
Street vendors, meat and fish sellers, auto and bus drivers, school and college teachers, salon and barber shop employees, security guards, restaurant staff, temple, church and mosque priests will be inoculated as early as possible.
The state government Wednesday also issued fresh guidelines for the month of April keeping in view the ensuing by-elections in Pipili assembly seat and a series of festivals next month.
The maximum ceiling for gatherings in religious, political and any other events should not cross 200 people, it said.
