BHUBANESWAR : Naba Kisore Das, the Odisha Health and Family Welfare Minister, has tested positive for Covid-19. Das, who took to Twitter to express himself, said: "I was recently diagnosed as asymptomatic Covid positive and am presently in home isolation. I'm requesting that anyone who has had physical touch with me in the last three days get tested".

On Friday, Odisha reported 2,703 new Covid-19 cases, a 42 percent increase over the previous day's infection count. On Thursday, the state had 1,897 cases registered. According to a state health department bulletin, there have been 2,703 Covid cases reported, with 409 children under the age of 18 being among them. The district of Khordha, which includes Bhubaneswar, had the most cases (926), followed by Sundergarh (454), Cuttack (191), Sambalpur (179), and Jharsuguda (179). (106). In all other districts, there were less than 100 instances documented. On Friday, the state's daily test positive rate (TPR) was raised from 2.62 percent to 3.92 percent.

There are currently 8,237 active cases in Odisha. With the confirmation of yet another fatality linked to Covid, the state's death toll now stands at 8,468.

From 9 p.m. Friday through January 31, the state government has enforced a night curfew in all urban areas. In addition, the state has reduced worker attendance in all of its offices to 50%. Furthermore, all passengers deboarding at Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA) must undergo an RT-PCR test.

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