Odisha police launches drive to check hoarding, blackmarketing of COVID medicines

Amid reports of rampant blackmarketing of COVID-19 drug Remdesivir from various parts of the country, the Odisha Police conducted a verification drive across various districts in the last 24 hours to check the hoarding and illegal sale of COVID-19 essentials in the state.

Amid reports of rampant blackmarketing of COVID-19 drug Remdesivir from various parts of the country, the Odisha Police conducted a verification drive across various districts in the last 24 hours to check the hoarding and illegal sale of COVID-19 essentials in the state. According to the police, verification drive was conducted at various hospitals, nursing homes, pharmaceutical stores/firms in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Subarnpur, Nabarangpur, Rayagada, Balangir, Nuapada, Kalahandi and elsewhere in the last 24 hours for prevention of hoarding and black marketing of COVID-19 essentials.

In this regard, the joint flying squads comprising Drug Inspectors, officials of Crime Branch, Special Task Force and local Police conducted verification at pharmaceutical firms in Cuttack and one hospital in Bhubaneswar and other places in different districts, said the Odisha Police. Meanwhile, as many as 6,164 new COVID-19 cases, 2,009 recoveries and seven deaths were reported in Odisha in the last 24 hours, the state health department informed on Thursday.

With this, the total case tally in the state stands at 3,88,479, including 35,075 active cases 3,51,386 recoveries and 1,965 deaths. Of the new cases, 3,575 were reported from quarantine centres and 2,589 detected during contact tracing. The state has so far conducted 9,7,49,932 sample tests for COVID-19. As per the state government data, out of the total reported cases, Khurda accounted for the most number of cases with 1,132, followed by Nuapada with 459 cases, Kalahandi 452, Sundargarh 427 and Jharsuguda with 355 cases.

Amid the rising cases, a weekend shutdown was declared for Saturday and Sunday in all urban areas of the State. India reported a record-high single-day spike in COVID-19 cases and deaths with more than 3 lakh new cases and over 2,000 deaths on Thursdayeffect from April 24.

The country recorded as many as 3,14,835 new COVID-19 cases and 2,104 deaths were reported, taking the total cases to 1,59,30,965, including 22,91,428 active cases. The death toll related to the infection stands at 1,84,657.

As many as 1,34,54,880 recoveries have been reported so far, out of which 1,78,841 were reported in the last 24 hours. The total number of vaccinations in the country stands at 13,23,30,644.According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), 27,27,05,103 samples have been tested for COVID-19 up to April 21. Of these, 16,51,711 were tested yesterday. (ANI)

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