Odisha govt announces 14-day lockdown from May 5 to 19 in bid to tackle COVID-19

On Sunday, May 2, the Odisha government announced a 14-day lockdown in the state from May 5 to May 19 amid the COVID-19 surge. In the last 24 hours, according to the state health department report, Odisha recorded 8,015 new COVID cases, 5,634 recoveries, and 14 COVID-related deaths.

The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases has risen up to 4,62,622 out of which 3,91,048 have recovered and 2,068 have succumbed to the infection. The active cases stand at 69,453. So far, the state government has tested a total of 1,01,80,678 samples. As per state data, with 1,275 cases, Khurda district has reported the most number of COVID-19 cases followed by Sundargarh with 735 and Angul with 525 cases.

Odisha Govt announces free COVID-19 Vaccines 18+

As the third phase of COVID vaccination kicked off on Saturday, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on April 25 announced free vaccination for all those between the age group of 18 to 44 years in the state. Highlighting the miserable condition across the country due to the pandemic, Patnaik appealed to the people to cooperate with the government to deal with the grave situation by following COVID-19 norms-- wearing a mask, maintaining social distance, and free vaccinations for all aged 18 and above.

He further stated, "The State government has targeted to spend Rs 2,000 crore towards vaccination of 2 crore people of Odisha. The people do not have to spend anything towards vaccination." 

85,000 Beneficiaries Inoculated On May 1

As per Health Ministry reports, a total of 84,599 beneficiaries of the 18-44 age group on Saturday received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine on the first day of the Phase 3 vaccination drive. Over 16 lakh vaccine doses were administered till 8 pm on Saturday, the 106th day of nationwide COVID-19 vaccination. The total vaccinations across the country rose to over 15.66 crores. In the 45-60 age group, 5.33 crore people have taken the first dose, while over 40 lakh have been given the second dose of the jab so far.

(With ANI Inputs)

(Image Credits: PTI)