Odisha reported as many as 13 Covid-19 cases in a single day on Monday. With this, the total number of corona positive cases in the State jumped to 74.
Among the 13 new cases, five are from Jajpur district, five from Bhadrak; two from Baleswar and one from Sundargarh district.
Detection of the new cases in Bhadrak took the total in the district to eight. Among the new cases are a 48-year-old man, a 55-year-old man, a 57-year-old man, a 58-year-old man and a 66-year-old man. The district administration sealed five GPs and began contact tracing of the positive people.
Jajpur Collector Ranjan Kumar Das said the five people found positive in the district had come in contact with a person of Bhadrak district during his return from Kolkata on March 29. All of them are labourers. The district administration sealed three gram panchayats following the detections. With the fresh cases, the total number of infected persons rose to seven in the district.
The Health and Family Welfare Department stated that the two found positive in Baleswar district include a two-year-old girl. “The girl is a resident of Nilagiri block under the Berhampur police station and her sample was collected on April 16 and the report was received on April 20. Family members of the patient were sent to a quarantine centre,” the department said.
Besides, a 32-year-old man tested positive in the district. With the detection of the new cases, the total COVID cases rose to three in the district.
The new patient of Sundargarh, who is a resident of the Bisra area, had come in contact with a person of the district who had earlier neen tested positive, sources said.
As on Monday, the number of active cases in the State stood at 49. While 24 patients have been cured and discharged from hospitals, one has died. Regarding the testing of samples, 10,641 were examined till Sunday. A total of 10,573 samples have tested negative.
But a matter of concern for the State Government is that out of the 74 positive cases so far, 24 are either returnees from West Bengal or have come in contact with persons who returned from the neighbouring State in recent past, said State Government COVID-19 Chief Spokesperson Subroto Bagchi.
The 10 persons found positive in Bhadrak and Jajpur districts on the day have a travel history to West Bengal.
He further said a one-third of the positive cases have returned from West Bengal. These people would have to spend 14-day quarantine mandatorily at the panchayat level. The district administrations have been asked to make ground verification and take action accordingly, Bagchi added.