8 fresh COVID-19 cases reported in Odisha, total mounts to 111

Eight people, including four women, tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday, taking the total number of cases in Odisha to 111, officials said.

While six fresh cases were reported from Balasore, one each was detected from Jajpur and Koraput districts, they said.

The patient from Koraput is a 22-year-old male health worker from Dasmantpur block, the first COVID-19 case reported from the tribal-dominated district as well as south Odisha.

The male staff nurse in a government facility is the state's first health worker to get infected with the deadly virus, the officials said, adding that he was asymptomatic.

The Koraput patient, who had returned from Kolkata on April 14 to join duty, was put under quarantine in view of his travel history, and had not joined work.

Following the COVID-19 test, he was diagnosed with the disease, the officials said.

With Koraput district reporting a coronavirus patient, COVID-19 cases have now been found in 11 out of the 30 districts of Odisha.

The new patient from Jajpur is a 34-year-old male from Basudevpur village under Dasrathpur block and had a recent travel history to Kolkata, the official said, adding that his contact tracing is on.

With this, the total number of cases in Jajpur district mounted to 19.

Of the six cases reported from Balasore on Monday, four are women and two men. One is a 32-year-old man who recently returned from West Bengal.

Regarding five others in Balasore district, the Information and Public Relations department said four are women (55 years, 22 years, 23 years and 29 years, respectively) and one is a male patient aged 27 years.

The officials said all the detected cases from Balasore had mild symptoms and they were put under home quarantine. Contact tracing and follow-up action are being done.

With this, the total number of COVID-19 patients in Balasore district, bordering West Bengal, has increased to 16.

The samples of the new patients were collected during the 60-hour complete shutdown imposed in the district from 10 pm of April 23 to 10 am of April 26.

Of the state's 111 COVID-19 cases, 73 are active as 37 people have recovered from the disease. A 72-year-old man from Bhubaneswar died due to the disease on April 6.

Earlier in the day, two COVID-19 patients from Bhubaneswar were discharged from a hospital after being cured.

Of the total COVID-19 cases reported in the state so far, 46 were detected from Khurda district, of which Bhubaneswar is a part, followed by 19 from Jajpur, 16 each from Bhadrak and Balasore, six in Sundargarh, two each in Kendrapara and Kalahandi districts and one each in Cuttack, Dhenkanal, Puri and Koraput.

A total of 25,103 samples have been tested by April 26 midnight in eight laboratories, the officials added.