Odisha on Friday logged 986 COVID-19 fresh cases in the last 24 hours at 1.40% Test Positivity Rate (TPR) with the tally soaring to 9,99,173, while the cumulative death toll reached 7,223 with 69 fresh fatalities, according to State’s COVID dashboard portal.

Of the freshly infected persons, 128 are children in the age group of 0-18 years. The infected children account for 12.98% of positive cases reported in the last 24 hours.

The Khordha district, comprising state capital Bhubaneswar, continues to be the epicenter of Covid infections in the State with the district reporting more than 37% of positive cases in the last 24 hours.

The coastal state now has 9,578 active cases, and 9,82,319 patients have so far recovered from the disease, including 1,003 in the last 24 hours.

The Khordha district reported the highest number of 373 new infections followed by Cuttack 139, Jajpur 49, and Jagatsinghpur 45.

The Jagatsinghpur district reported the highest 12 deaths followed by 11 from Cuttack, eight from Dhenkanal, six each from Bhadrak and Jajpur, five each from Angul, Kendrapara, and Khurda, four from Puri, three each from Keonjhar and Mayurbhanj, and one fatality from Nayagarh.

More than 61% of the total death toll has been recorded in the State in the past 81 days. As many as 4,467 Covid patients have succumbed to infection since 31 May at a daily average of over 55 deaths while the cumulative death toll currently stood at 7,223. The surge in deaths had begun to emerge after the launch of the district-level audit for death recount.

Odisha has thus far conducted over 1.72 crore sample tests, taking into account 70,079 clinical examinations on Tuesday. The cumulative positivity rate is at 5.78 percent and the case fatality rate is at 0.72 percent.

The State’s recovery rate currently stands at 98.31% while active cases account for 0.95% of total positive cases registered in the State.

The State’s share is 3.09% in the country’s confirmed virus caseload while the active cases are 2.68% of India’s total active cases. The number of cured patients accounts for 3.11% of the country’s total recovery. Odisha has so far reported 1.67% of the country’s Coronavirus deaths.