Odisha crosses 1mn Covid-19 test milestone

Bhubaneswar, Aug 18 (IANS) Odisha has crossed one million Covid-19 test milestone even as the positive cases rose to 64,533 in the state.

"Glad to share that we have crossed one million #COVID19 test milestone. Thank everyone who worked tirelessly to scale up testing facilities in short time and ramp up testing expeditiously to intensify our fight against the pandemic and save precious lives," said Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik in a tweet on Tuesday.

Besides, Odisha also became the leading state in the country with 1,096 Covid-19 tests per million per day, among the large states.

"Glad to share that #Odisha became the leading state in the country with 1,096 #COVID19 tests per million per day, among the large states. Thanks everyone for scaling up testing facilities on war footing and strengthening Odisha's effort to save every precious life," the Chief Minister added in another tweet.

Odisha has recorded 2,239 Covid-19 positive cases in the last 24 hours, informed the health department.

Of the fresh positive cases, 1,416 positives were detected from quarantine centres and 823 were local contacts.

The Covid-19 death toll increased to 362 as nine more fatalities were reported in the last 24 hours.

Odisha has 20,339 active cases and 43,779 recoveries.