Even though the Covid-19 positives’ rate has significantly come down in State from the November first week, mortality rate remains a major concern.With 16 more persons succumbing to the virus, death toll surged to 1,608 in State on Friday. Four persons died in Sundargarh district, three in Cuttack, two each in Sambalpur and Ganjam and one each in Bargarh, Jagatsinghpur, Jharsuguda, Puri, and Subarnapur Meanwhile, as many as 757 persons tested positive on the day in 29 districts and State pool, pushing total positives’ tally to 3,12,545.Of the new cases, 436 were detected from quarantine and 321 were local contact cases.Angul district recorded day’s highest 75 Covid cases followed by Khordha 70, Cuttack 67, Mayurbhanj 43, Jagatsinghpur 42, Nuapada 41, Kalahandi 37, Balangir and Sambalpur 35 each, Baleswar 34, Kendapada 29, Jajpur 27, Keonjhar 26, Jharsuguda and Balangir 35 each, Bhadrak 19, Ganjam 13, Bargarh 12.