The dip of COVID-19 positive cases the past 24 hours after the consistent clocking of 10,000-plus virus infections during the course of the current month has projected towards a deceptive trend of flattening of the contagion curve.

With test positivity rate showing no signs of subsiding, the slowdown of positive cases is due to the fewer number of testing conducted in the State.

The low spike of coronavirus cases can be attributed to the relatively low number of tests conducted in the last 24 hours in the wake of Cyclone Yaas which made landfall on the state’s coast on Wednesday morning.

While 69,407 samples were examined on Tuesday, the number of such tests on Wednesday was only 46,241. There was sample testing of 43,768 on Thursday, the reports of which were released today in the State’s COVID dashboard.

Odisha on FRiday reported 7,216 positive cases amid dip in daily testing while 33 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours.

The positivity rate of the samples tested in the last 24 hours stood at almost 16.48%, indicating towards the fact that contagion’s surge is going unabated in the State.

The State’s death toll has climbed to 2,651 while the State’s cumulative pandemic caseload climbed to 7,39,955.

The rise in the fatality graph in the second wave has been evidently a worrisome development. As many as 708 have died of virus infections in the past 28 days, which implies that almost 27% of total COVID deaths have been reported in around a month’s span.

In the 2nd wave, the highest numbers of tests of 69,407 were conducted last Tuesday. It has dipped to 46,000 to 43,000 in the last 48 hours. It needs to be further increased to one lakh-mark. Unless the test positivity rate dips below 10 per cent, it will be a difficult proposition to keep the virus infection at bay, said public health experts.

As many as 2,39,557 virus infections have been reported in the State since 5 May, when lockdown was enforced in the State. Since the past 23 days, 10,415 cases are being reported in the State at a daily average.

The spread of the disease in western districts like Kalahandi, Nuapada, Bargarh and Sambalpur has come down while infections continue to surge in coastal districts of Khordha, Cuttack, Puri besides in Angul is a cause of worry for the epidemiologists and public health experts.

As per the information posted at the COVID dashboard of Odisha government, almost 87 percent of the 30 districts are currently in the Red Zone category as the active cases in as many as 26 revenue districts have surpassed 1,000 count. Only four districts- Deogarh, Gajapati, Nuapada and Malkangiri- come under Yellow Zone with less than 1,000 active cases.

On Friday, the highest of 1,091 new infections were reported from Cuttack, followed by Khurda (809), Kendrapara (487), Dhenkanal (428) and Angul (409).

The Angul district reported highest fatality at five followed by Sundargarh (4), three each from Kalahandi, Khurda, Keonjhar and Boudh, two each from Rayagada, Gajapati, Jharsuguda, Kendrapara and Koraput and one each from Dhenkanal and Nabarangpur.

The State’s recovery rate currently stands at 85.84% with as many as 6,35,179 cured of the disease so far. Odisha currently has 1,02,072 active cases, which account for 13.79% of total positive cases registered in the State.

The State’s share is 2.69% in the country’s confirmed virus caseload while the active cases are 4.39% of India’s total active cases. The number of cured patients accounts for 2.55% of the country’s total recovery. Odisha has so far reported 0.83% of the country’s Coronavirus deaths.

The state has so far tested 1,15,96,753 samples for COVIOD-19 including 43,768 on Thursday while Odisha’s cumulative positivity rate is 6.38 per cent.