Odisha reports one more COVID-19 fatality, 143 new cases

A 46-year-old man from Ganjam district became the latest COVID-19 victim in Odisha, raising the death toll due to the contagion in the state to 15, a health department official said on Monday.

Odisha also recorded 143 new cases of the respiratory ailment, taking the state's coronavirus tally to 5,303, of which 1,562 cases are active, he said.

"Regret to report that a 46-year-old Covid positive male of Ganjam district passed away while under treatment in hospital for Covid pneumonia," a statement issued by the Health and Family Welfare Department said.

Meanwhile, a 60-year-old COVID-19 patient of Mayurbhanj district, who was suffering from cancer of the oesophagus, also died. "But the reason of his death was post-operative complications following cancer surgery," the official said.

Of the fresh cases, 137 are from different quarantine centres where returnees are lodged for preliminary observation, he said, adding that two National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel have also tested positive for the disease.

Contact-tracing and follow-up action are underway, the department said.

Ganjam topped the list of new infections with 32 cases, followed by Cuttack at 20, it added.

A total of 3,720 patients have so far recovered from the disease in the state.