Despite the dip in COVID-19 infections, the State continues to register a rise in Coronavirus deaths as the audit of fatalities, reported in the past months, has paved the way for an alarming spike in the toll on a daily basis.

Over 47% of the total death toll has been recorded in the State in the past 51 days. As many as 2,487 Covid patients have succumbed to infection since 31 May at a daily average of over 48 deaths. The surge in deaths had begun to emerge after the launch of the district-level audit for death recount.

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Odisha on Wednesday registered 69 COVID-19 fatalities, the highest so far in a single day, taking the toll to 5,241, while 1,927 new cases at 2.67% Test Positivity Rate (TPR) pushed the tally to 9,59,986.

The State’s COVID management presents an intriguingly contrasting picture- steady decline in positive cases coupled with upward trend in the fatality graph.

Commenting on the fatality surge, the Health & Family Welfare Department officials said “the list does not reflect deaths occurring on a particular day. It lists details of past deaths for which the audit process has been duly completed and the cause of death has been identified as due to COVID-19”.

Khurda district, of which the state capital Bhubaneswar is a part, alone accounted for 22 fresh fatalities, followed by Sundergarh at 10, Bargarh at seven, Angul at six, Keonjhar at five. This apart, 53 COVID-19 patients in the state have died due to comorbidities in the past.

Currently Khurda and Cuttack districts are tagged in COVID Red Zone category with 4,462 and 2,729 active cases respectively while 26 districts are tagged accounting for less than 1,000 active cases.

Meanwhile the active cases have come down to 19,685 with daily recoveries breaching the virus infections. As many as 2,341 patients who were either home isolated or hospitalized recuperated from the disease in the past 24 hours while 9,35,007 have recovered from the disease so far.

Over 1.52 crore sample tests have been conducted so far, including 72,061 in the past 24 hours. Odisha’s positivity rate stands at 6.28 per cent.

The State’s recovery rate currently stands at 97.39% while active cases account for 2.05% of total positive cases registered in the State.

The State’s share is 3.08% in the country’s confirmed virus caseload while the active cases are 4.91% of India’s total active cases. The number of cured patients accounts for 3.08% of the country’s total recovery. Odisha has so far reported 1.25% of the country’s Coronavirus deaths.

The state has administered 1,46,42,944 vaccine doses thus far, of which 2,18,538 were given on Tuesday. The inoculation drive is in progress in 26 of the state’s 30 districts on Wednesday.