Odisha Channel Bureau
Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik will not celebrate his birthday on October 16 (Friday) in view of the prevailing COVID-19 situation in the State, according to officials.
Born in Cuttack on October 16, 1946, Patnaik will turn 74 on Friday.
Announcing his decision not to celebrate his birthday since people are passing through a difficult situation, Patnaik tweeted a message urging his supporters, well-wishers not to visit his residence and instead help the needy and donate blood and plasma on the occasion.
This will be the third consecutive year that Patnaik will not celebrate his birthday. He avoided to celebrate his birthday in 2019 due to Cyclone Fani and in 2018 owing to Cyclone Titli. Both the cyclones had affected the State’s coastal regions.
On the occasion of World Handwashing Day on Thursday, Patnaik appealed the people to practice sanitation protocols and frequent handwashing to prevent COVID-19 from spreading.
Meanwhile, the ruling Biju Janata Dal announced that blood donation camps will be organised at different places across the State under their Jeevan Bindu initiative to mark the birthday of Patnaik on Friday.
A total of 2,62,011 persons have been affected by COVID-19 in Odisha so far. While 2,35,763 had recovered by Thursday, 25,106 are undergoing treatment for the disease.
Of the infected persons, as many as 1,089 have died due to COVID-19 and another 53 due to other ailments.
