Odisha Channel Bureau
Bhubaneswar: As many as 34 Odisha lawmakers, including seven Ministers, and three parliamentarians, who were actively involved in COVID-19 management in their respective constituencies, have contracted the novel coronavirus so far.
School and Mass Education Minister Samir Ranjan Dash besides Dhenkanal BJD MLA Sudhir Kumar Samal tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday.
Dash, who took to his Twitter handle to inform contracting the virus along with his spouse, has become the 7th minister in the Naveen Patnaik Government to contract the virus.
Lok Sabha member from Nabarangpur Parliamentary constituency Ramesh Chandra Majhi had tested positive for COVID-19 on Sunday becoming the third MP from Odisha to contract Coronavirus.
Dash apart, the Labour Minister Sushant Singh, Higher Education Minister Arun Sahoo, Textile Minister Padmini Dian and Tourism & Culture Minister Jyoti Prakash Panigrahi, Food Supplies & Consumer Welfare Minister Ranedra Pratap Swain and Women & Child Development Minister Tukuni Sahu have tested positive so far.
Apart from the Ministers, 24 MLAs in the State have also tested positive for COVID-19 till date.
Two other parliamentarians – Suresh Pujari, BJP MP from Bargarh and Manjulata Mandal, BJD MP from Bhadrak had tested positive earlier.
Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan who is from Odisha had also tested positive for COVID-19 a few weeks ago.
Many of the lawmakers have recovered from the disease while several are undergoing treatment in hospitals or in home isolation.
