COVID 19 fight: Odisha announces Rs 50 lakh compensation for health workers who might lose lives

Odisha - The Odisha government will provide financial assistance worth ₹50 lakh to the families of health workers who lose their life-fighting coronavirus pandemic. This will cover workers from public and private hospitals.

Moreover, the government will also treat them as Martyrs and provide a state funeral and state honors, announced CM Naveen Patnaik.

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Apart from this, the families of all government employees including both medical and non-medical will receive full salary until retirement.

"Appeal all that as a community we should be very grateful for this bold and selfless service being rendered by our doctors, health professionals and other support services," Patnaik said.

The government is also set to take strict action against those who harass or disturb medical workers in any form.

In the last 24 hours, Odisha reported five fresh cases of the novel coronavirus, taking the total number of cases to 79 in the state. All the fresh cases have been reported from Balasore district neighbouring West Bengal, he said.

Of the 79 cases reported in the state, 46 are from Khurda district comprising Bhubaneswar, eight each from Balasore and Bhadrak, seven from Jajpur, three from Sundergarh, two each from Kendrapara and Kalahandi and one each from Cuttack, Dhenkanal and Puri districts.

A total of 11,748 reverse transcription-polymerase Chain Reaction (RT PCR), a test for coronavirus, and 4,861 rapid antibody tests have been conducted so far in the state, the official added.

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