Bhubaneswar, May 6 (PTI) Odisha's COVID-19 tally breached the five-lakh mark on Thursday with 10,521 fresh cases -- the highest so far in a single day -- pushing the tally to 5,00,162, while 17 fresh fatalities raised the toll to 2,121, a senior health department official said.

Of the 10,521 new cases, 5,945 were from various quarantine centres and the rest detected during contact tracing, the official said.

Khurda district, of which state capital Bhubaneswar is a part, reported the maximum number of new cases at 1,477, followed by Sundergarh at 1,186 and Cuttack at 963.

The positivity rate stands at 4.82 per cent.

Taking to Twitter, the health department said, Regret to inform about the demise of seventeen numbers Covid positive patients while under treatment."

Khurda accounted for four deaths and Balasore and Malkangiri two each. One patient each succumbed to the infection in Boudh, Deogarh, Jharsuguda, Keonjhar, Kalahandi, Nayagarh, Rayagadda, Sambalpur and Sundergarh.

This apart, 53 other COVID-19 patients in the state have died due to comorbidities.

Odisha currently has 81,585 active cases, while 4,16,403 patients have so far recovered, the official said.

Over 1.03 crore samples have been tested in the state for COVID-19, including 48,314 since Wednesday, he added.

Meanwhile, sources at AIIMS, Bhubaneswar said the health condition of Leader of Opposition PK Naik, who had last month tested positive for COVID-19, has turned serious.

The 54-year-old BJP leader represents Bhawanipatna assembly segment.

A senior doctors' team attending to Naik has advised his family members to shift him to a medical establishment where the facility for extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is available, the sources said.

A two-week lockdown came into effect in Odisha on Wednesday with several restrictions imposed on movement of people. Barring weekends, vaccination drive will be underway on all other days.

(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)