COVID-19 patient in Odisha recovers, discharged from hospital

Odisha's first COVID-19 patient, a 33-year-old Italy-returned researcher, was on Friday discharged from the hospital, having recovered from the viral infection, a state health department official said.

The man, who was admitted to the hospital with coronavirus infection on March 15, tested negative for the disease twice in a span of 24 hours, he said.

Taking to Twitter, the state Health and Family Welfare Department congratulated the doctors and staff at the hospital, where he underwent treatment.

"The first COVID-19 positive case, belonging to Bhubaneswar who is being treated at Capital Hospital has recovered and tested negative to COVID-19," it said.

The 33-year-old man is the second patient in the state to have recovered from the disease.

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On Wednesday, a 19-year-old London returnee, who had tested positive for the disease last month, was discharged from a hospital in Bhubaneswar.

Currently, Odisha has four COVID-19 patients all of them undergoing treatment in Bhubaneswar-based hospitals.

Meanwhile, National Health Mission (NHM) director Shalini Pandit on Friday said 15,000 people have returned to Odisha from abroad and other COVID-infected states within the country over the past 14 days. She asked the returnees to stay home and maintain social distancing norms.

"After 14 days, they should self-monitor their health for another two weeks. If they experience cough, cold, fever and breathing complications then they should call '104' helpline number" Pandit added.

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