Bhubaneswar: Four days after testing positive for COVID-19, an elderly man, who was battling multiple health complications, passed away in Odisha’s Bhubaneswar on Saturday.
According to sources, the 85-year-old man with comorbidities succumbed at his residence.
This is the first COVID-19 death in the state amid a resurgence of cases. The state health department is yet to officially confirm the exact cause of death.
This came even as two more persons tested positive for the virus in the state, taking the total number of cases to eight – five from Bhubaneswar, two from Cuttack and one from Khurda. The remaining patients are in stable condition and are recovering well, sources said.
The first case after a gap of two and a half years was detected on May 22 when a 75-year-old man tested positive for the virus. Five more individuals—four from Bhubaneswar and one from Khurda— were found infected on May 28.
The health official, however, said that there seven confirmed cases while one sample has been sent for RTPCR test. “It is well within control. We have only seven identified positive cases. The first one has already recovered. There is no threat to the public at the moment. We are monitoring the situation. We are assessing the preparedness. We are conducting regular meetings,” Commissioner-cum-Secretary of the Health and Family Welfare Department of the state, Aswathy S, told ANI.
Of the five samples sequenced in May, two have been identified as LF.7.9 and three as XFG, both Omicron descendants linked to the prolonged Covid waves of 2020-22 that caused millions of deaths, according to sources in Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG). These sub-variants, now driving cases in India, are derived from the JN.1 variant, which fuelled global waves in late 2023 and early 2024.
Meanwhile, active cases in India have surpassed 3,000-mark led by Kerala (1336), Maharashtra (467) and Delhi (375). Total 26 people have died of the infection, according to data shared by the Health Ministry at 8 am on May 31.
