Bhubaneswar: The rising number of active cases of COVID-19 in Odisha has been a matter of concern for the State Government as well as the Centre. The active cases tally saw a surge by 10,361, rising up to 88,346.
Over the last 8 days, Odisha has reported 10,000+ new cases of COVID-19, consecutively, with the maximum being on Wednesday when 11,607 COVID positives were confirmed. On the other hand, the fatalities have also been on a rise with 32 COVID-19 deaths reported during the last 8 days in Odisha.
Addressing a press conference at New Delhi on Thursday, Union health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said, Eleven states/UTs have more than 50,000 active COVID-19 cases and 515 districts are reporting weekly case positivity of over 5 per cent.
The test positivity rate in Odisha, however, has dropped to 13.7 per cent from 16.7 per cent than the previous day. The other States where increasing number of active cases is a concern are Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat Delhi and Rajasthan.
India has around 19 lakh active COVID-19 cases at present. Over the last week, an average of 2.71 lakh daily cases and a positivity of 15.91% has been reported. We are witnessing a 3rd surge in our country, he said.
“States of Concern in view of COVID surge are Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Delhi, and UP. We are in continuous contact with these states & are reviewing the situation. We have sent central teams to these states and have provided necessary guidance to these States,” said Bhushan.