Odisha s 3rd COVID-19 patient came in contact with 112 people,

The Odisha government on Saturday said the health condition of the 60-year-old man, the third COVID-19 patient in the state, was improving and that he had come in contact with as many as 112 people, including his wife and daughter.

The man, who is a bank officer, tested positive for COVID-19 on March 26, an official said.

He had come in contact with 32 people when he took a flight to Bhubaneswar from New Delhi, 5 persons at home, 44 persons in office, seven employees of Odisha Legislative Assembly, 21 persons in the clinic where he was in ICU and three people in the pathological lab where his blood test was conducted, said Odisha governments COVID-19 spokesperson Subroto Bagchi.

Of the 112 persons who had come in contact with the patient, communication could not be established with 15 persons so far, Bagchi said.

Around 10 teams were engaged in monitoring the persons who came in contact with the patient, he said.

Blood samples of 11 persons, who had come in contact with the patient, were sent for the examination and so far one sample tested negative for COVID-19.

The test reports of 10 other persons are yet to arrive, he said.

The official said the states first two COVID-19 patients, a 33-year-old researcher returned from Italy and a 19-year-old- man from London, are currently asymptomatic.

The Patient-3 has improved and is free from fever today. All the three are under normal hospital diet, Bagchi said.

He informed that 55 contacts, of first two cases, are being tracked.

Till noon of Saturday, 256 samples were sent for testing and reports of 226 samples have been obtained.

The number of positive cases is still three, Bagchi said, adding that a total of 7,080 people have registered themselves online and through the 104-helpline.

Out of these 4,286 are from abroad and 2,794 are from other states, he said.