Third COVID-19 positive case surfaces in Odisha

Bhubaneswar: The state government Thursday said that it has so far tested samples from 164 suspected patients of coronavirus and found three positive.

The third COVID-19 positive case in the state is a 60 years old male from Bhubaneswar. Contact tracing exercise has commenced, state Health & Family Welfare department tweeted Thursday night.

It is yet to be ascertained whether the patient visited any foreign country and efforts are on to find out his travel history, according to the officials.

That said, the Health Department tweeted that,”Based on the contact history of the third positive case, Health Department urges people not to visit Kar Clinic Bhubaneswar for outpatient and inpatient care.”

A 33-year-old man, who had returned from Italy, was the first COVID-19 patient of the state and it was detected on March 16. The second patient, who had come back from London, was diagnosed last March 19.

The infections are likely to increase as the state government confirmed arrival of around 84,000 persons in Odisha from other states.

“A total of 84,000 persons have entered into Odisha in the past few weeks through several modes of transportation. Cases of COVID 19 cannot be ruled out from this large section of people as many of whom have returned from vulnerable states. Sarpanchs and local administrations have been asked to ensure that those who came to Odisha from other states remain in home isolation for 14 days,” state government’s chief spokesperson on coronavirus Subroto Bagchi said.

These apart 4,249 persons have been registered through 104 Helpline and portal disclosing their travel history to foreign countries while 34 persons are in hospital isolation.