Bhubaneswar: Even though Odisha is reporting a high number of positive Covid-19 cases (10-plus for the last 3-4 days) on a daily basis, the state’s positivity rate is not alarming, Director of Health services Bijay Mohapatra said Friday. He said the rise in Covid-19 positive cases is due to the ramping up of testing. However, the positivity rate is not alarming as yet as it hovers around the 20 per cent mark.
The official was asked to comment regarding the daily rise in fatalities. “It all depends on the number of serious patients who are undergoing treatment. As of now, 80 per cent of ICUs are full while 50 per cent of the patients are on ventilator support. It just shows that the number of critical cases is high. Hence the fatalities are also increasing,” Mohapatra noted. He also informed that the process to increase the number of ICU beds at the KIMS Covid-19 Hospital has been initiated.
Mohapatra asserted that there is no reason for panic over the black fungus infection.
Notably, Odisha reported Friday the highest single-day rise in cases as well as deaths. A total of 12, 523 new infections were reported Friday while the death toll in the last 24 hours stood at 27.
PNN