108 fresh COVID-19 cases in Odisha; count rises to 4,163

Bhubaneswar, Jun 16 () As many as 108 people, including 16 disaster response personnel, have tested positive for COVID-19 in Odisha, taking the state's tally to 4,163, a health department official said on Tuesday.

Of the 108 new patients, 95 were housed in quarantine centres upon their return from different states while 13 others were found to be infected with the novel coronavirus during contact tracing. The fresh cases were reported in 15 districts of the state, he said.

The new cases include 16 personnel of the Odisha Police Fire Service. They were placed under institutional quarantine upon their return from West Bengal, where they were sent for restoration work following cyclone Amphan, the official said.

With this development, the number of disaster response personnel infected with the disease has increased to 174.

Personnel of the NDRF, the ODRAF and the Fire Service had earlier tested positive for COVID-19 in different phases, he said.

The highest number of fresh cases, excluding the disaster response personnel, was reported in Malkangiri district, at 21, followed by 15 in Puri, nine each in Kendrapara and Jagatsinghpur, eight in Ganjam, seven each in Khurda and Gajapati, five in Keonjhar, four in Balasore, two in Sundergarh and one each in Angul, Cuttack, Bargarh, Bolangir and Kalahandi.

Of the 4,163 cases, 1,295 are active, while 2,854 people have recovered. Eleven persons have died of the disease so far while three patients have died due to other ailments, the official said.

The state health department has so far tested 2,05,501 samples for COVID-19, including 2,988 on Monday. AAM ACD DV DV