Odisha reports 146 new Covid-19 cases

Bhubaneswar: Odisha's COVID-19 caseload went up to 3,38,963 on Monday after 146 people, including 24 students of a leading management institute, tested positive for the disease, an official said.

The state which reported daily new COVID-19 cases below 100 for the last 45 days till March 19, suddenly witnessed a spike in cases and it is in a rising trend for the past four days, he said.

While 98 fresh cases were detected on Sunday, the figure increased to 146 on Monday after 24 students including seven women of the B-school tested positive for the infection.

The authorities of Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) have sealed the institute and isolated the affected students in a separate hostel.

"In view of the detection of a large number of COVID- 19 positive cases in Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar, the entire XIMB institute campus is hereby sealed until further order," the civic body said in a notice issued on Sunday.

BMC commissioner P C Chaudhury said that the situation appears to be alarming.

He said the BMC has issued orders preventing people from participating in Holi and Dola Jatra in public. Vigil has also been intensified in airports and railway stations, Chaudhury said adding that 340



people have succumbed to COVID-19 in the city in a year.

Two private educational institutes in Cuttack had reported 47 new COVID-19 cases last week.

Meanwhile, Chief Secretary S C Mohapatra in a video conference talked to district collectors and asked them to remain vigilant to the emerging situation in view of the festivals like Holi and Dola Jatra which could help spread the infection.

Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) P K Jena said that the government has already banned the celebration of Holi in public places and restricted the number of participants in Dola Jatra.

The district administration of Malkangiri, one of the three districts which have emerged as "COVID-19 free" as they do not have any active case, imposed night curfew from 9 pm to 6 am in the district from Match 23 to March 31.

Boudh and Gajapati are the two other COVID-19 free districts.

Khurda district, of which the state capital Bhubaneswar is a part, reported the highest number of new cases at 35, followed by Cuttack (25), Mayurbhanj (13), Nuapada and Sundargarh (12 each).

The death toll in the coastal state remained at 1,919 as no fresh fatality was reported in the last 24 hours, the official said.