Amid steady 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 exponential spike in the toll on a daily basis.

Over 41% of the total death toll has been recorded in the State in the past 43 days. As many as 1,976 Covid patients have succumbed to infection since 31 May at a daily average of almost 46 deaths. The surge in deaths had begun to emerge after the State government began the district-level audit for recount.

Odisha on Tuesday registered 68 deaths due to COVID-19, the highest so far in a single day, pushing the death toll to 4,730 while the state reported below-2,000 spike of 1,930 fresh infections at 3.09% Test Positivity Rate (TPR).

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”.

In the last 24 hours, as many as 17 deaths were reported from Khurda, seven from Ganjam, six each from Bargarh and Mayurbhanj, five from Sundargarh, four from Puri, three each from Angul and Jajpur, two each from Bolangir, Cuttack, Dhenkanal, Jharsuguda, Kendrapara, Keonjhar, and Nayagarh, and one each from Balasore, Kandhamal and Nuapada.

Currently Khurda and Cuttack districts are tagged in COVID Red Zone category with 4,703 and 3,448 active cases respectively while the TPR in these districts stands at 5.4 per cent and 5.6 per cent.

The State on Tuesday logged below-2,000 positive cases for the third day in a row. With the latest spike of 1,930 positive cases, the State’s cumulative pandemic caseload has climbed to 9,43,675, according to Odisha’s COVID dashboard information updated at 8.39 am today.

Meanwhile the active cases have come down to 23,492 with daily recoveries breaching the virus infections. As many as 2,937 patients who were either home isolated or hospitalized recuperated from the disease in the past 24 hours.

The state has tested over 1.46 samples for COVID-19 to date, including 72,754 on Monday. Odisha’s overall test positivity rate stands at 6.43 per cent while TPR was recorded at 3.09% on Tuesday.

The State’s recovery rate currently stands at 97% while active cases account for 2.48% of total positive cases registered in the State.

The State’s share is 3.05% in the country’s confirmed virus caseload while the active cases are 5.52% of India’s total active cases. The number of cured patients accounts for 3.05% of the country’s total recovery. Odisha has so far reported 1.15% of the country’s Coronavirus deaths.