India News | Odisha Logs Record 25 New COVID-19 Fatalities, 11,498 More Cases

Bhubaneswar, May 20 (PTI) Odisha on Thursday registered 25 deaths due to COVID-19, the highest so far in a single day, pushing the toll to 2,403, a health department official said.

The state reported 11,498 fresh infections, which took the tally to 6,55,899, he said.

Of the new fatalities, four each were recorded in Khurda and Kalahandi, three in Angul and two each in Ganjam, Rayagada and Sundargarh. One patient each in Balasore, Bargarh, Bolangir, Boudh, Cuttack, Dhenkanal, Keonjhar and Puri succumbed to the disease, he said.

Fifty-three other COVID-19 patients have died in the state due to comorbidities.

Khurda district, which comprises the state capital Bhubaneswar, reported the highest number of new cases at 1,497, followed by Cuttack (1,107), Angul (867), Sundargarh (703) and Balasore (524).

At least 6,439 fresh cases were reported from quarantine centres, and the remaining 5,059 detected during contact tracing.

Odisha now has 1,06,812 active cases, while 10,036 patients were cured of the disease on Wednesday, taking the total number of recoveries to 5,46,631, the official said.

The state has so far conducted over 1.11 crore sample tests for COVID-19, including 60,598 in the last 24 hours, and the positivity rate stands at 5.9 per cent.

Meanwhile, Odisha Human Rights Commission (OHRC) has issued a show-cause notice to the state government on the alleged black marketing of oxygen cylinders and medicines for COVID-19 patients.

The commission also asked the chief secretary and the health department's additional chief secretary to submit an action taken report on the issue.

The OHRC appealed to the chief secretary to take immediate steps for setting up temporary medical centres in rural areas for migrant workers who are returning from neighbouring states.

It also urged officials to ensure that the post- cremation rituals are done in strict adherence to the guidelines issued by National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)