Odisha has conducted over 1 lakh COVID tests in the last two days as the state government ramps up its efforts to contain the virus. The state government aims to double the current testing rate within the next month.
Notably, the state is about to achieve the milestone of one million total tests.
The positivity rate in the state has come down drastically from 9.2 per cent a month ago to 5.5 per cent on August 16.
Odisha Government
“Ganjam district leads the tests with 14,953 tests in two days, which is more than many states in the country. The positivity rate continues to fall in Ganjam to 3.6 per cent. This is a huge improvement in the situation of the district compared to a few weeks back,” added the state government.
The Odisha government also highlighted the low fatality rate. “The fatality rate in Odisha continues to be among the lowest in the country at around 0.58 per cent. It indicates the strength of the dedicated COVID care system of hospitals and COVID care centres and homes established across the state in every district,” it said.
“Odisha is probably the only state where the entire cost of treatment is provided free of cost while maintaining high standards of treatment through unique partnerships with reputed private hospitals,” it added.
Meanwhile, a total of 2244 new cases were reported in the last 24 hours. This takes the total tally in the state to 62,294. Out of the new infections, 1390 have been reported from quarantine centres. The remaining 854 have arisen from local contacts.
Khordha district has reported 311 new cases, followed by Ganjam with 243 and Cuttack with 194. Rayagada and Kandhamal reported 160 and 121 new cases respectively.