13 COVID-19 patients recover so far in Odisha: Officials

One more person, who was afflicted with COVID-19 in Odisha, has recovered on Monday, taking the total number of patients cured of the disease to 13 in the state, health department officials said.

The man, who hails from Kalahandi district, was undergoing treatment at Ashwini Hospital, a dedicated facility for COVID-19 patients in Cuttack, they said.

Odisha has so far reported 54 coronavirus cases while a 72-year-old patient from the state capital died of the disease.

"Happy to share that one COVID positive case of Kalahandi district, presently at Ashwini Covid hospital, Cuttack, has recovered and tested negative for COVID-19. Our best wishes to him," state's health and family welfare department tweeted.

Of the recovered patients, seven are from Bhubaneswar, two from Bhadrak and one each from Cuttack, Jajpur, Puri and Kalahandi, the officials said.

National Health Mission (NHM) director Shalini Pandit said over 80 per cent of the patients in the state are asymptomatic and many of them will not require hospital care.

The officials said testing for the novel coronavirus has been started at MKCG Medical College and Hospital in Berhampur on Sunday.

The new testing unit is an addition to the existing facilities at RMRC, AIIMS and ILS in Bhubaneswar and SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack.

"Laboratory development and equipment installation work are going on in full swing at VIMSAR in Burla for commencing COVID testing at the earliest," they said.

Meanwhile the Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) has withdrawn the containment zone order from the area around Pattapole in the city.

The civic body, on April 4, had declared Pattapole as a containment zone after a man had tested positive for COVID- 19.

The man has been cured of the disease and discharged from hospital, an official of the CMC said.

The restriction was withdrawn after all the people who had come in contact with the man have tested negative for coronavirus, the official said.

The test results of all symptomatic cases in the containment zone found negative and there is no local transmission in the area, the CMC said in a statement on Sunday night.