Man tests positive to COVID-19 in Odisha, tally climbs to 61

Bhubaneswar, Apr 18 () A man from Odisha's Balasore district tested positive for coronavirus, taking the number of cases in the state to 61, officials said on Saturday.

Three people from Bhubaneswar have recovered from COVID-19 and the number of active cases in the state now stands at 36, they said.

"A 58-year-old man from Balasore district has tested positive for COVID-19," Health and Family Welfare Secretary N B Dhal said at the daily briefing here.

The government has launched contact tracing of the fresh case and follow up action is in progress, he said.

With this case, Dhal said, coronavirus cases have been reported from 10 of Odisha's 30 districts.

Earlier, cases were reported from Khurda (46), Bhadrak (3), Sundergarh, Kendrapara, Kalahandi and Jajpur (two cases each) and Cuttack, Puri, Dhenkanal (one case each) districts.

Meanwhile, the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry said Puri and Bhadrak in Odisha are among 47 COVID-19 affected districts where no fresh case has been reported in the last 14 days.

A health department official said three COVID-19 patients hailing from Bhubaneswar have recovered, taking the total number cured people in the state to 24.

With the recovery of these three people, the number of active cases in the state has dropped to 36, he said.

Odisha has so far tested 8,619 samples of which 61 were found positive, according to the official.

The ratio of positive cases in Odisha remains at 0.7 per cent, he said.

Of the total 61 cases in Odisha, 46 are from Bhubaneswar, a coronavirus hotspot. Of these, 15 patients have recovered, he said.

The official said Odisha did not report any fresh cases on Wednesday and Thursday. AAM SKN RG DIVDIV