Sampad Patnaik

Starting Friday 20.00 hours, these three urban pockets of the state will experience for 48 hours more restrictions on movement of essential services personnel, commodities and services, than presently imposed by the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Late Thursday night, Odisha’s Health and Family Welfare Department in a series of tweets said, "Based on the contact history of the third positive (Corona) case (in Odisha), Health Department urges people not to visit Kar Clinic Bhubaneswar for outpatient and inpatient care".

Odisha confirmed its third positive case of coronavirus, which has led to disruption in the functioning of the state assembly.

According to a senior official, “This will help in pooling all resources, human and material, in one place to treat patients rather than a scattered effort throughout the state. Doctors from different state medical colleges may be deployed at this one place for streamlined services.”

In a video clip, Patnaik said: “Paramedics and all healthcare workers will be given their salaries for April, May, June and July in the month of April itself.”

“For you and your family, I announce that doctors, paramedics and all healthcare workers will be given their salaries for April, May, June and July in the month of April itself”, Patnaik announced.

Bagchi demonstrated a chart titled “India is headed in the direction of exponential growth, with cases doubling every 5-6 days”. Considering Odisha’s population to the national population, if there are 58,643 cases nationwide it would mean there will be 2,345 affected in Odisha alone”, Bagchi said.

According to a senior doctor with OMSA, Stage III of pandemic means when an person or animal carrying the virus can produce sporadic cases or small clusters of disease in population. Incomplete human-to-human transmission can occur in specific circumstances.

In a video clip, Patnaik said, “Coronavirus has reached India. The number of affected (patients) is increasing. This virus has come from outside and does not have a specific treatment. Only awareness can stop the spread of this virus.”

According to a government spokesperson, Odisha is the first state in the country to lock down 40 per cent of the state- focusing on districts where more than 70 percent of foreign travellers have returned.

Reacting to the letter, Leader of Opposition in Odisha Assembly, Pradipta Naik, said, “There is no problem with this suggestion. I am hopeful PM will accept the proposal”.

The 19-year-old boy is the second positive case of the COVID-19 in Odisha after a research scholar tested positive following his return from Italy.

Since Coronavirus is contagious in nature and food grains shall be distributed to PDS beneficiaries through ePoS devices but, without using any type of biometric scanning through either fingerprint scanner or IRIS scanner attached to the e-PoS.

Those who entered Odisha after midnight on March 3 must register themselves within a 48-hour window starting 6 am on March 17.

Coronavirus in Odisha: The government’s designated spokesperson Subroto Bagchi said the "patient is a 33-year-old man who had returned from Italy, where he was a research scholar”.

Earlier in the day, legislators from the BJD and Congress assembled on the Assembly grounds, and joined by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, they washed their hands thoroughly to demonstrate how to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

Promotion Adalat has been set up by the Odisha government to reexamine cases where government employees feel they have been unjustly overlooked for a promotion. The Adalat is presided over by Odisha Chief Secretary Asit Mishra.

Four seats are open with the terms of BJD leaders Sarojini Hembram, Narendra Swain, Anubhav Mohanty, and Congress leader Ranjib Biswal are set to end.

On Friday, the Odisha government was forced to issue a clarification after it was cornered by leaders of its own party and that of the Opposition with concerns over the temple's funds.