Bhubaneswar: Coronavirus gave the Team Odisha COVID-19 the slip on Tuesday. Splashing water on the 15 day long effort of the Team to make the Odisha zero- casualty State, the pandemic took it’s first head on Monday night.

A 72 year old man died in AIIMS, Bhubaneswar, on Monday night found to be Coronavirus positive. The contacts of the deceased who is from Jharpada area of the city are being traced.

Under leadership of disaster management champion chief minister Naveen Patnaik, the Team Odisha, in fact, had declared war against the COVID-19 with an almost impossible target of zero-casualty. Declaring Statewide Lockdown ahead of the prime minister’s nationwide Lockdown, the chief minister had put in place a team of efficient officers and doctors to keep the spreading of the virus in the State.

Screening of the people coming from other countries and States was started in the State. Institutional quarantines were identified and exclusive COVID hospitals were put in place. Intensifying its fight against the government declared some of the high risk cities, towns and their parts as containment areas.

The advance planning and aggressive strategy resulted in low cases of COVID-19 positive cases in the State. The number of total patients is 42 as on Tuesday afternoon.

However, the news of first Coronavirus death case has disheartened many in the Team Odisha.