Odisha coronavirus cases cross the 9,000-mark with 469 new cases, death toll rises to 36

Odisha's COVID-19 tally on Sunday crossed the 9,000 mark with 469 fresh cases, while two more fatalities due to the infection pushed the death toll to 36, a health department official said. The number of coronavirus patients in the state rose to 9,070.

Two men succumbed to the disease while undergoing treatment at hospitals, he said.

"Regret to inform the demise of a 40-year-old COVID positive patient from Gajapati district and a 64-year-old man from Sundergarh district, who was also suffering from diabetes," the official said.

A 45-year-old woman from Balasore district, who tested positive for COVID-19, died but her death was due to "massive haemorrhagic exudative pleural effusion," he said.

With this, the number of coronavirus patients who died due to "non-COVID reasons" increased to 10 in Odisha.

Of the 36 deaths so far in Odisha, Ganjam, the worst-hit district, accounts for 20, followed by seven in Khurda, four in Cuttack, and one each in Gajapati, Sundergarh, Puri, Bargarh and Angul, he said.

The official said 469 more people, including four National Disaster Response Force personnel tested positive for coronavirus.

The NDRF personnel were placed under institutional quarantine after their return from West Bengal, where they had gone for restoration work in the wake of cyclone Amphan, the official said.

Taking the four into account, the number of disaster response personnel testing positive for the virus has increased to 299.

Of the fresh 469 cases, 317 were detected in quarantine centres and 152 were found as an outcome of the contact-tracing exercises, the official said.

The new cases were reported from 20 districts. Ganjam registered 116 fresh cases, followed by Cuttack (94) and Sundergarh (66).

The state now has 3,090 active cases, while 5,934 patients have recovered from the disease.

The health department conducted tests of 5,317 samples in the past 24 hours. AAM BDC DV DV