With COVID-19 cases dropping below 1,000-mark for the first time since the outbreak of the third wave of pandemic, the State government has withdrawn the mandatory Coronavirus test for hospitalization cases.

“It has been decided that the Covid test will no longer be mandatory for hospital admission. The decision in this regard has been taken as per the revised guidelines of Indian Council of Medical Research. However the hospital authorities could go for a test on symptomatic patients,” Director of Health Services Bijay Mohapatra said.

Meanwhile, the State on Monday maintained its downward trajectory of infection with 859 fresh cases with Test Positivity Rate (TPR) dropping to 1.45% as the State is currently witnessing a gradual slowdown of the disease.

On the other hand, the fatality trajectory is on a steady rise with 20 succumbing to infection in the last 24 hours. The cumulative death toll in the State now stands at 8,904.

With the latest daily infection, the cumulative infection tally has climbed to 12,78,121, while the State currently has 11,324 active cases. While 172 positive cases are from the 0-18 year age group among the new infectees, the recoveries on Monday have surpassed the daily cases, marking the steady decline in infection.

A total of 12,57,840 patients have recovered from the disease so far, including 1,845 in the past 24 hours. The State has so far registered 347 Omicron variants.

Khurda district, which includes the state capital Bhubaneswar, continues to be State’s Covid hotspot and reported the highest number of new cases at 105, followed by Cuttack district with 65 cases.

All the 30 districts in the State currently have active cases while Khordha with less than 2,500 active cases is placed in the yellow zone. The remaining 29 districts are in the green zone with fewer than 1,000 active cases.

The State’s recovery rate currently stands at 98.41% while active cases account for 0.88% of total positive cases registered in the State.

The State’s share is 3.42% in the country’s confirmed virus caseload while the active cases are 0.68% of India’s total active cases. The number of cured patients accounts for 3.57% of the country’s total recovery. Odisha has so far reported 1.83% of the country’s Coronavirus deaths.

The State’s health authorities have so far administered 5,92,53,302 COVID-19 vaccine doses while 2,60,64,021 people out of 3.09 crore eligible adult population are fully vaccinated. A total of 7,10,151 have so far received booster or precaution dose so far. Over 84% of the eligible population has so far received both the doses of vaccine.