Bhubaneswar : Covid fatalities in Odisha today surpassed the 6000 mark with 67 more patients succumbing to the virus in the past 24 hours pushing the toll to 6033.
During the period 1032 new infections were reported from 30 districts taking the covid tally in the state to 9,79,737 while the recovery rose to 9,58,601 after 1773 patients cured from the deadly virus on Sunday last.
Official sources said there has been a steady decline of daily covid load over the past fortnight.The daily caseload which was over 3222 on July 1 last has come down to 1032 within a month.
Two districts- Khordha and Cuttack reported 237 and 154 new cases in the past 24 hours while other 28 districts have new cases
less than 100.
The two coastal districts together accounted for 37.88
per cent of total covid load reported in the past 24 hours.
However, there has been no let-up in the daily fatalities as the state continued to report over 60 covid deaths daily since July 8 last.
Out of 67 deaths reported from the state in the past 24 hours, a maximum of 12 deaths were registered from Khordha district followed by Sundargarh ( 11), Cuttack (10), Puri (6), Djenkanal (5) and four each from Ganjam and Jagatsinghpur district.
The daily test positivity rate in the state further reduced to 1.53 per cent from 1.92 per cent as reported on Sunday. Barring Puri district which recorded a test positivity rate of 5.6 per cent, all the rest 29 districts in the state recorded the TPR of less than 5 per cent. As many as 16 districts, more than half of the state, have witnessed the TPR less than 1 per cent.
According to Director Medical Education and Training (DMET), Dr C B K Mohanty the R-value which is a crucial step in curbing the spread of the virus in the state has also significantly come down below 1 per cent in the state.
The active cases in the state further declined to 15,050 and except Khordha and Cuttack districts where the 4261 and 1962 active cases were reported respectively, the other 28 districts in the state have less than 1000 active cases.
Meanwhile, the unlock process started in the state and the parks, restaurants, cinema halls and bars which were closed opened today and would be now operated with 50 per cent of their capacity.
The world-famous Sun temple at Konark, a centrally protected monument, also opened today for the visitors as the government allowed all the archaeological sites in the state to open for the visitors from August 1.
The state government had also allowed the religious places to open with permission from the district collectors and sources said most of the temples would be opened for the devotees in the next couple of days.
The Sri Jagannath temple management, Puri and the Lingaraj temple management in Bhubaneswar as per the government circular, will decide on the opening of these two shrines for the devotees in consultation with the stakeholders.
UNI
