An Additional District Magistrate (ADM) in Odisha’s Gajapati district died of COVID-19 on Tuesday — first administrative rank officer of the State to fall victim to the virus.
Karunakar Paika (55) died at the MKCG Hospital in Berhampur in the morning. He was in charge of a COVD hospital at Paralakhemundi, district headquarter town of Gajapati.
After the Odisha Administrative Service officer’s death, swab was collected and tested using Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) method. It was found that he was infected with virus.
“Paika had not been keeping well for the past few days. When his condition deteriorated, he was taken to MKCG Hospital, Berhampur. We could not save him,” Anupam Saha, district Collector said over phone.
Gajapati is one of the districts having high virus load. It has been decided that if a person either in government or private sector succumbs to the pandemic in the line of duty under formal deployment by State authorities on COVID-19 related work, he\she will be cremated with State honours.
Many teachers, ASHA worker and anganwadi workers, who had tested positive during their deployment at quarantine centres, had died. The district reported the highest number of infections among the warriors.
