7 new COVID-19 cases in Odisha, tally rises to 169

Seven more people, including six who recently returned from Kolkata, tested positive for COVID-19 in Odisha on Monday, taking the number cases in the state to 169, officials said.

The new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases were reported from three separate districts - Sundergarh (1), Balasore (2) and Jajpur (4). Of the total 169 infections, 108 are active, while 60 people have recovered, the Information and Public Relations Department said.

In Rourkela, a 29-year-old woman from Nala Road tested positive, taking the total confirmed COVID-19 cases in Sundergarh district to 11, an official said.

The woman is a neighbour of a person who tested positive earlier, an official said, adding that Nala road was already a containment zone. The other containment zone is located at Bisra in Sundergarh district, which has been placed in orange zone.

Four people from Jajpur district and two from Bhadrak tested positive for the COVID-19. All of them had returned from Kolkata recently and were placed under quarantine, the department said.

Contact tracing and follow up actions are being taken in all the seven new cases, the official said.

The Odisha government has tested 41,128 samples so far, he said.

The state has reported only one coronavirus death -- a person from Bhubaneswar who died on April 6.

The highest number of cases were reported in Jajpur district (52), followed by 47 in Bhubaneswar, 21 each in Balasore and Bhadrak, and 11 in Sundergarh.

Two cases each have been reported in Ganjam, Jharsuguda, Kendrapara, Bolangir, Keonjhar and Kalahandi, and one each in Cuttack, Puri, Dhenkanal, Deogarh and Koraput districts.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said the coronavirus situation in the state was well under the control and appealed to all, including returnees from other parts of the country, to cooperate with the government in its efforts to stop the spread of the deadly infection.