Bhubaneswar: Khordha district acquired the No.1 slot once again in COVID-19 cases in the State with steep hike by surpassing hotspot Ganjam district in terms of active positive cases.

As per COVID-19 cases updated on State Dashboard, Khordha has registered the highest number of 3,381 COVID-19 active cases followed by Ganjam district with 2,545 cases.

The district has reported 342 new positive confirmed cases in the last 24 hours, while Ganjam registered 222 positive cases in the test conducted on August 8.  It crossed Ganjam district in terms of daily-basis positive cases report for the second time since August 7.

For the first time, the district had surpassed southern coastal district in single-day spike with 298 cases on August 6.  In COVID-19 report for August 7, both the districts shared equal number of 274 cases reported on August 8.

After Ganjam, continuous rise in COVID-19 cases in Khordha district could be termed as the 'Biggest Challenge' for the State authorities to prevent the spread of infection in the community.

Khordha is the first district to have reported the COVID-19 confirmed case on March 15 in Odisha. The coastal district was in the top position till April. It slipped to second place after Jajpur district started witnessing a number cases with travel history to other states including West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Gujarat. In the first week of May, all the calculations and assumptions by State authorities went wrong when Ganjam district opened its account with positive cases after migrants from across the country reached their home district during the nationwide lockdown. Since then, it topped in the list of COVID-19 cases.

As on August 9, 2020, Ganjam is classified as the hotspot district with total number of 12,855 cases, whereas Khordha district has reached the tally of 6,445. However, the latter is expected see more number of positive cases than Ganjam in upcoming days.