At least 582 people including 83 children and adolescents tested positive for COVID-19 pushing the tally to 10,29,994 on Thursday, while seven fresh fatalities pushed the coronavirus death toll to 8,234, a health department official said.

The rate of infection of children and adolescents in the age group of 0 to 18 years now is 14.26 per cent against the previous day’s 13.49 per cent, he said.

Of the 582 new cases, 337 were reported from quarantine centres and the remaining 245 were local contact cases. Khurda district of which Bhubaneswar is a part, reported the highest 282 new cases followed by Cuttack (46).

Five districts – Boudh, Malkangiri, Nuapada, Rayagada and Angul, did not report any new cases in the last 24 hours, he said.

Khurda and Cuttack district together accounted for 56.35 per cent of the state’s new COVID-19 cases. There has been steady increase of COVID-19 cases in Bhubaneswar even as the rate has substantially come down in comparison to the previous month, said chief of the Directorate of Medical Education and Training (DMET), Prof CBK Mohanty.

Meanwhile, the authorities of the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) Wednesday declared Rajendra Vihar Apartment, ward no-52, in the Forest Park area in the state capital as a micro containment zone after detection of multiple cases of COVID-19.

“To contain the spread of the virus, entry of the public to the area has been restricted and all inhabitants asked to strictly remain at home,” the civic body said in an order, adding that all the shopping establishments will be closed and so also government and private institutions located within the boundary of the containment zone. The BMC will supply essentials and ensure medical requirements, the order said.

BMC sources said more than 300 people reside in the apartment. Around 20 residents of 11 households were found infected. The BMC is continuing contact tracing and testing for COVID, which is a mandatory process, they said.

The Health and Family Welfare department informed that 7 patients in five different districts such as Cuttack and Sundergarh (2 each), Dhenkanal, Jagatsinghur and Mayurbhanj (1 each) have succumbed to the infection taking the state’s COVID 19 death toll to 8,234.

This apart, 53 other COVID-19 patients have also so far died due to comorbidities, he said.

The state’s active cases number further increased and currently stands at 5,113 while as many as 10,16,594 patients including 429 on Wednesday, have recovered from the highly infectious disease.

The daily test positivity rate (TPR) Thursday stands at 0.75 per cent as 582 people tested positive out of the 76,717 samples tested on Wednesday. The TPR was 0.82 per cent on Wednesday, 0.77% on Tuesday, 0.62% on Monday and 0.76 % on Sunday.

The state has thus far conducted over 2.04 crore sample tests including 76,717 on Wednesday. Odisha’s positivity rate also stands at 5.03 per cent.

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