165 fresh COVID-19 cases in Odisha; count rises to 4,677

As many as 165 more people, including 11 disaster response personnel, have tested positive for COVID-19 in Odisha, taking the state's tally to 4,677, a health department official said.

Of the new cases, 140 were reported from quarantine centres where people returning from other states are housed, while 25 infections were found during contact tracing, he said.

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The new cases include 11 personnel of the disaster response teams that were sent to neighbouring West Bengal for restoration work following cyclone Amphan, the official said. With this development, the number of disaster response personnel, including those from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), the Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) and the Odisha Fire Service, infected with the disease has increased to 206, he said.

However, 11 Fire Service personnel and 13 NDRF men have recovered and were discharged from a COVID-19 hospital in Cuttack, officials of the two organisations said.

Of the 4,677 cases, 1,519 are active while 3,144 people have recovered. Eleven people have died of the disease so far while three patients have died due to other ailments, the health official said.

The new cases were reported from 17 districts, with the highest of 41 cases from Ganjam. It is the worst-affected district in Odisha, reporting 796 cases so far and six of the 11 fatalities due to COVID-19, he said.

Ganjam district administration said that 12 of the 41 new patients are frontline workers who were engaged in the fight against COVID-19.

Apart from the 41 new cases in Ganjam, Gajapati (28), Balasore (21) and Cuttack (20) were among the districts that recorded a high number of fresh cases.

Odisha has tested 2,16,607 samples so far, including 4,383 on Thursday.

Half of the 30 districts in the state have reported more than 100 cases each.