Odisha man arrested in snatching case found COVID19 positive, police station vacated

The Puri district administration on Sunday vacated the police station at Kumbharpada as after a person arrested in a snatching case tested positive for COVID-19, officials said.

The police station was sanitised and about 30 personnel, including the inspector in-charge, were lodged at a hotel as a precautionary measure, they said.

The administration said COVID-19 test of all the personnel posted at the police station will be conducted.

We will decide on Monday after contact tracing on whom to sent on quarantine, Superintendent of Police US Dash said.

The person arrested in connection with a snatching case was brought to the police station four days ago, said.

He later tested positive for COVID-19, they said.

Odisha reported two more COVID-19 deaths, taking the total number of virus fatalities in the state to five, an official of the health department said on Sunday.

The total number of coronavirus cases in the state rose to 828, with 91 fresh cases reported in the last 24 hours, the official said.

Bhadrak district accounted for the maximum number of fresh cases at 28, followed by Balasore at 17, Ganjam at 15, Cuttack at 12 and Puri at seven.

Earlier, two persons from Bhubaneswar and another from Ganjam had succumbed to the disease, the official said.

Of the five deaths reported so far, three are from Ganjam. The district has accounted for 292 cases in a span of just 16 days.

As many as 5,083 samples were examined for COVID-19 on Saturday. The total number of samples tested so far in Odisha stands at 91,223.