The state on Wednesday recorded 212 new Covid-19 cases, logging a 50 per cent spike in infection in the last 24 hours, said health authorities.
For the past one week, Odisha continued to report more than 100 new covid-19 cases, indicating an upward swing of the viral infection. The disconcerting note in the ongoing spike lies in the fact that the test positivity rate is steadily rising reaching 3% while the tally of Covid-19 active cases climbed to 902.
However, while there is a sporadic outbreak of cases, no cluster outbreak of the disease has been reported so far. Majority of the new infections were reported from 16 districts in the state. The Sundargarh district at 64 reported the highest daily infection followed by 42 from Nabarangpur. Khurda and Cuttack recorded 18 and 23 cases respectively.
The new cases are symptomatic. People with co-morbidity are being advised to undergo testing and opt for treatment in the event of any symptoms, said an official.
Meanwhile, the state government has urged the Centre for at least an additional 50,000 doses of vaccine in the first phase to cover people who have not received the booster dose yet, an official said.
State director of Family Welfare Bijay Panigrahi, who is also its nodal officer for immunisation, has, in his letter to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, sought CorBEvax vaccine for Odisha.
“Presently, there is a rise in Covid cases in Odisha. Also there is a demand from the public for precautionary dose vaccination at government facilities,” Panigrahi said in the letter.