Bhubaneswar: Odisha Health and Family Welfare Director Bijay Panigrahi on Saturday said the rise of Covid-19 cases in Nuapada to new strain of the virus. Odisha district registered 71 new cases of infections today. Heath and family Welfare department sources said the covid infection cases have risen from 297 on March 30 last to 461 on April 1. In the past 24 hours, 272 cases were reported from the quarantine centres and 189 local contact cases from 24 districts in the state. Nuapada district has reported a maximum number of 86covid positive cases followed by Khordha(69), Sundargarh ( 62), Kalahandi ( 36) and Bargarh ( 32). “The new Covid strain spreads rapidly. As Nayapada shares border with Chhattisgarh, the infection rate is higher there. The district administration is analysing the new strain. In general, there is fear of spread of the virus everywhere in the State,” Panigrahi said. Speaking about vaccination, Panigrahi said, “We had set a target to vaccinate 2 lakh beneficiaries per day. The health director ruled out the possibility of any lockdown in the State. “Our current strategy is testing, tracing and treating and imposing micro-containment zones wherever required. We do not have any plan to impose lockdown.” Meanwhile, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has called upon the people of the state to abide by all covid 19 guidelines to flatten the curve, amidst the imminent threat of a second wave of coronavirus. The Officials have been directed by the Odisha Government to ramp up healthcare infrastructure in their respective areas to tackle the second wave of covid 19 Allahabad High Court issues new guideline amid rising corona cases 8 ground staff of this stadium found corona positive before IPL 2021 Karnataka: 26 students in high school and college got corona positive, classes suspended