Odisha’s COVID-19 tally mounted to 3,38,258 after 66 more persons tested positive for the virus on Monday, as the State completed one year of its battle against the pandemic, a health department official said.
On March 15, 2020, the State detected its first COVID-19 case, an Italy returned research scholar at the Capital Hospital here, the official said.
There was panic after the State’s Chief COVID-19 Spokesperson Subrato Bagchi announced that the first patient had come in contact with 129 people, including 76 train passengers.
The detection of the first coronavirus case followed a series of measures such as shutdown, lockdown, curfew, night curfew and closure of religious places, business establishments and educational institutions.
1,918 died of the disease
While 1,918 persons have died of the disease in the State in this one year, as many as 3,35,660 patients, above 99% of the caseload, have also recovered.
A day before the detection of the first COVID-19 case, on March 14, the Odisha government had declared the pandemic as a ‘State disaster’.
A week later, the administration announced lockdown in five coastal districts to contain the spread of the virus. Subsequently, the lockdown was extended to all 30 districts.
