Dubai returnee tests positive for COVID-19 in Odisha, count reaches 40

A 32-year-old man from Odisha's Kendrapara district, who recently travelled to Dubai, tested positive for novel coronavirus on Monday, taking the total number of cases in the state to 40, officials said.

The man had returned to Odisha from Dubai on March 24, an official of the Health and Family Welfare Department said.

After his return from Dubai, the man had stayed at a friend's house in Bhubaneswar before going to Kendrapara district, he said.

With the latest case, coronavirus cases have now been reported in seven of the 30 districts of the state.

Khurda district, under which Bhubaneswar falls, recorded the highest number of cases at 32, followed by Bhadrak with three and Kendrapara, Jajpur, Puri, Cuttack and Kalahandi districts with one each, they said.

Eighteen new cases were reported in the state on Sunday. The first two patients in Odisha, on the other hand, have recovered and were discharged from the hospital.

A total of 87 people have been placed under isolation in different hospitals.

Meanwhile, the state government has launched a contact tracing of the COVID-19 patients in different districts.