Two major coastal districts in Odisha- Khurda, and Cuttack- continue to be the COVID hotspots in the State, accounting for almost 50 percent of the COVID-19 cases detected on Monday. State’s largest urban conglomerates- Bhubaneswar and Cuttack- are within the territorial jurisdiction of both districts.

Both the cities, which are home to scores of educational institutions and leading healthcare facilities, report the footfall of thousands of people every day.

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The influx of a fleeting population from other areas of the State is apparently resulting in the detection of a maximum number of positive cases from the twin cities, according to public health experts.

“As the twin cities are Odisha’s main political, educational and commercial hubs, many people across Odisha visit these places frequently. That has led to the surge in numbers in these two places,” said CBK Mohanty, the chief of the Directorate of Medical Education and Training (DMET).

At least 609 more people have tested positive for the infection, of which 188 are from Khurda district, which comprises the state capital Bhubaneswar, and 113 from Cuttack.

Of the new patients, 131 are children and adolescents, according to the State’s COVID dashboard portal.

The infection rate detected amongst children and adolescents is growing every day with 21% reported in the last 24 hours.

With the detection of the fresh cases, the state’s COVID-19 tally rose to 10,12,167, while eight more fatalities pushed the toll to 8,055.

The State on Monday logged a 0.93% Test Positivity Rate (TPR) implying that less than one clinically tested were diagnosed to be positive cases.

Odisha currently has 6,996 active cases, while as many as 9,97,063 patients, including 763 on Sunday, recovered from the highly infectious disease. The positivity rate in the state stands at 5.49 percent.

Over 1.84 crore samples have been tested in the state thus far, including 65,268 on Sunday.

The state has inoculated over 2.35 crore people with COVID-19 vaccines, around 59 lakh of them having taken both doses.

A total of 17,860 persons have tested positive for COVID­19 in the past 21 days while over 2,660 persons in 0­-18 years have been found to be infected during the period.

Infection among children accounts for 14.89%. Around 1.35 crore children and adolescents need to be vaccinated in the State, according to official sources.

The State’s recovery rate currently stands at 98.50% while active cases account for 0.69% of total positive cases registered in the State.

The State’s share is 3.07% in the country’s confirmed virus caseload while the active cases are 1.75% of India’s total active cases. The number of cured patients accounts for 3.11% of the country’s total recovery. Odisha has so far reported 1.83% of the country’s Coronavirus deaths.