Odisha BJP MLA among 456 new COVID-19 cases; death toll reaches 38
Bhubaneswar, July 6 () Odisha's COVID-19 tally climbed to 9,526 with 456 more people, including a BJP MLA, testing positive for the virus, while the death toll reached 38 after two other patients succumbed to the disease, a health department official said on Monday.
The two deceased persons hailed from Ganjam and Jajpur districts. While the COVID-19 death toll in Ganjam district has mounted to 21, Jajpur registered its first such death.
A 77-year-old man hailing from Ganjam, who was suffering from hypertension, and a 64-year-old man from Jajpur district, a patient of diabetes, were the latest COVID-19 fatalities in the state.
This apart, the health department said 10 coronavirus patients have also died, but the cause of their deaths was "due to other reasons".
Ganjam District Collector V A Kulange said, "We lost our four COVID warriors (people who work among the positive patients)." He, however, did not mention when the four died.
With detection of new cases, the COVID-19 tally in Odisha increased to 9,526, the official said, adding that 309 cases have been reported from different quarantine centres while 147 persons are local contacts.
The number of active cases in the state increased to 3,254 while 6,224 patients have so far recovered from the infection in the state.
The BJP MLA from Nilgiri, Sukanta Kumar Nayak, became the first lawmaker in the state to get infected with COVID-19.
In view of the rising number of COVID-19 cases in the state, Odisha Assembly Speaker S N Patro suspended all House Committee meetings till further notice.
Nayak was admitted to a special COVID Hospital in Balasore.
"I have tested positive. I have attended several meetings in Bhubaneswar, Nilgiri and also the funeral of an ex-MLA Madan Mohan Dutta recently," he told .
Balasore district sub-collector Harishchandra Jena said the government has launched contact tracing of the MLA and undertaken disinfection of the government offices visited by BJP leader.
Odisha on Sunday conducted 4,827 tests. Of the total 2,97,234 coronavirus tests conducted in the state so far, the RMRC, Bhubaneswar has alone tested over one lakh samples in three-and-a-half months.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik congratulated the Regional Medical Research Centre (RMRC) for reaching one lakh test milestone.
Meanwhile, the state government has prepared a special strategy for premier hospitals which have reported COVID-19 cases.
As many as 107 positive cases have been detected in the Acharya Harihar Regional Cancer Centre (AHRCC), while cases have also been reported from the state's health facility like SCB Medical College Hospital and Sishu Bhawan in Cuttack, an official said.
Health workers, including doctors and nurses, from AIIMS-Bhubaneswar, MKCG Medical College Hospital in Berhampur, Ispat Government Hospital in Rourkela and other places have also been infected with the virus.
The OPD of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Post Graduate Institute of Paediatrics, also known as Sishu Bhawan, in Cuttack was shut after a six-year-old child tested positive for the virus.
Nabarangpur District Collector Ajit Kumar Mishra said a COVID-19 patient undergoing treatment at a dedicated hospital escaped from the facility by jumping the boundary wall. A case has been registered in this regard.
Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) commissioner P C Chaudhury said the rapid antibody test for COVID-19 will be introduced in the state capital by the end of this week.
"We have set a target to conduct 2,000 to 2,500 tests. Micro plans are being made on how and in which areas the test will be conducted. It is a part of the serological survey," Chaudhury said.
A team from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) will collaborate with the existing teams here for conducting the tests, he said. AAM NN SNE