Bhubaneswar: A pall of gloom descended on the media fraternity in Odisha after a reporter of a leading vernacular daily succumbed to COVID-19 on Saturday.
This is the first case of a mediaperson in Odisha losing his life to the deadly virus, which has claimed 61 lives in the state so far.
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A bachelor, the 47-year-old scribe was based at Hinjili in Odisha’s Ganjam district.
After testing positive for coronavirus, he was admitted to the KIIMS COVID Hospital in Bhubaneswar and had been in ventilation for the past six days.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had, in April, announced ex-gratia payment of Rs 15 lakh to the next of kin of any working journalist who may die due to COVID-19.
