Bhubaneswar: Entire Odisha came together Wednesday evening to offer a minute-long silent prayer for the COVID Warriors who have sacrificed their lives while protecting the public from the pandemic.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik led the silent prayer at 6 PM in honour of warriors. The silent prayer was followed by oath-taking wherein people vowed to act responsibly and follow coronavirus guidelines issued by the government.
According to state government data, as many as 25 corona warriors have died in Odisha while performing COVID-19 related duty, a senior official said Wednesday. The frontline warriors who have succumbed to the viral infection were deployed in dedicated hospitals, COVID care centres, temporary medical camps and COVID care homes.
The 25 deaths account for 11.11 per cent of the state’s coronavirus death toll which stands at 225.
It may be mentioned here that the Chief Minister had urged people of the state to observe one minute silence in honour of the COVID warriors. “These people had been working for more than 150 days, without any rest, since the outbreak of the pandemic in the state,” he had urged.
Odisha registered its first COVID-19 positive case March 15 and the first fatality April 6.