Bhubaneswar, Aug 17 () Odisha on Monday reported 2,244 fresh COVID-19 cases taking the state's tally to 62,294, while 10 more people succumbed to the disease pushing the death toll to 353, a health department official said.
Rural Development and Labour Minister Susanta Singh tested positive to the COVID-19 and became the first member of Naveen Patnaik's cabinet to become a COVID-19 patient. Five other MLAs and an MP of the state had earlier infected with coronavirus.
"Concerned to know that my cabinet colleague Susanta Singh has tested positive for #COVID19. Spoke with him to know about his well being and wished him speedy recovery," Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik tweeted.
The fresh cases were found in 29 of the state's 30 districts.
Khurda district, of which state capital Bhubaneswar is a part, reported the maximum number of new cases at 311, followed by Ganjam at 243, Cuttack at 194, Rayagada at 160, Balasore at 142 and Sundargarh at 136.
"Regret to inform the demise of Ten #COVID19 positive patients while under treatment in hospitals," the Health and Family Welfare Department said in a twitter.
Of the 10 new fatalities, four were reported from Khurda district, and one each from Bargarh, Cuttack, Ganjam, Puri, Rayagada and Sundargarh, the official said.
The COVID-19 toll in Odisha mounted 353, he said.
Besides, 53 more coronavirus patients have lost their lives in the state but these fatalities have been attributed to other reasons.
Meanwhile, the state reported recovery of as many as 1,503 coronavirus patients taking the total number of people cured of the infection to 43,780 which is 70.27 per cent of the state's total caseload.
The state now has 18,108 active cases, which is 20.06 per cent of the total positive cases in Odisha.
Odisha tested 50,421 samples for COVID-19 on Sunday. So far, the state has conducted 9,58, 929 tests.
"In terms of tests per million per day, Odisha is leading the country with 1,096 tests, among large state category. The national average was 542 tests per million per day," the state government said in a statement.
This rate in Odisha is double the national average and ahead of states like Andhra Pradesh (920), Tamil Nadu (915), Karnataka (818), Gujarat (762), Kerala (760) and others, the statement said.
So far as the number of tests per day is concerned, Odisha remained at fifth position with 50,421 tests on August 16 after Uttar Pradesh (90,933), Tamil Nadu (70,450), Bihar (67,212) and Karnataka (54,806), it said.
Meanwhile, a Bhubaneswar-based central government research institute said that the corona situation is likely to improve from the second week of September.
"This (fall in cases) has happened in Ganjam district and will occur in other parts of the state," Dr Ajay Parida, the director of Institute of Life Sciences (ILS) said.
It is a good sign that the state continues to maintain a high recovery rate and low fatality rate, he said.
ILS is an autonomous institute of the Department of Biotechnology, which carries out multidisciplinary research in the area of life sciences. It has been studying the virus trend in Odisha. AAM NN NN