Odisha logs 351 new COVID-19 cases, 5 more fatalities

Over 65.02 lakh samples have been examined in the state, including 33,494 on Wednesday.Meanwhile, Odishas Health and Family Welfare Minister N K Das said that coronavirus vaccine will be provided to healthcare workers and COVID warriors free of cost.

Odisha on Thursday added 351 new cases to its COVID-19 caseload, raising the state's tally to 3,25,147, while five fresh fatalities pushed the toll to 1,825, a health department official said. Of the 351 cases, 203 were reported from various quarantine centres, and 148 detected during contact tracing.

Three districts -- Gajapati, Rayagada and Kandhamal -- did not report any case since Wednesday. Khurda, of which the state capital Bhubaneswar is a part, recorded the maximum number of new cases at 52, followed by Sundergarh at 47 and Angul at 41.

Taking to Twitter, the Health and Family Welfare Department said, ''Regret to inform about the demise of five Covid positive patients while under treatment in hospitals.'' Two fatalities were registered in Sundergarh and one each in Balasore, Jagatsinghpur and Puri. Odisha currently has 3,061 active cases, while 3,20,208 patients have so far recovered.

The state's positivity rate stands at five per cent. Over 65.02 lakh samples have been examined in the state, including 33,494 on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Odisha's Health and Family Welfare Minister N K Das said that coronavirus vaccine will be provided to healthcare workers and COVID warriors free of cost. The state government has decided to vaccinate doctors, healthcare workers, elderly persons, COVID warriors including employees of municipalities, health, electricity, water supplies departments free of cost in the first phase, he said.

Optimistic of starting of the vaccination programme in January, the minister said that around 3.2 lakh people will be vaccinated in the first phase..