By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, May 28, 2020: Odisha on Thursday reported the number of fully recovered patients exceeding the number of active cases saying that it is an important milestone in its fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.

The state which recorded its first case on March 15, had seen its numbers spike following the return of migrants to the state in the last fortnight before scripting a turnaround of sorts.

“More than half of those affected with Covid-19 have been cured and have returned to their homes. Our death rates are among the lowest in the world. This is a big achievement for a state like Odisha and we the people of Odisha. Powerful nations of the world and big states of India, rich states have not been this successful in the war with corona. This is an extraordinary achievement for the Odia people,” chief minister Naveen Patnaik said.

Seventy-five Covid-19 patients on Thursday recovered taking the total number of recoveries to 887 while the number of active Covid-19 cases was 776 after 67 new cases were detected. The state’s Covid-19 tally is now 1,660.

Additional chief secretary of health department, Pradipta Kishore Mohapatra said Odisha’s recovery rate is now around 49 per cent compared to the national average of 41 per cent.

As per ICMR guideline, Odisha is discharging Covid-19 positive cases with very mild symptoms after 10 days of detection with a stipulation that they should not have fever for three days consecutive days. Health authorities have also discontinued the practice of conducting two back-to-back tests on such patients before discharge.

“The recovery rate will go up in the coming days as we are seeing more and more asymptomatic cases,” said Mohapatra.

However, epidemiologists asked the state government not to boast about the lowest death rate as the state is still in the middle of a pandemic and it would be better to take stock after it is over.