Six Ministers and 20 MLAs of Odisha have so far contracted the novel coronavirus as the State has added 50,000 cases in the past two weeks.

The State on Sunday crossed the 1.50 lakh-mark in 183 days. On August 30, it had gone past the one-lakh mark. For the past two weeks, the daily positive cases have been consecutively exceeding 3,000. The fatalities are 626 though the rate is one of the lowest in the country.

Handlooms, Textiles and Handicrafts Minister Padmini Dian was the latest to be admitted to a COVID-19 hospital along with her husband after they felt uneasiness.

Earlier, Agriculture and Farmers’ Empowerment Minister Arun Kumar Sahoo, Rural Development Minister Susanta Singh, Women and Child Development Minister Tukuni Sahu and Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Minister Ranendra Pratap Swain had taken to social networking sites to announce their infection.

Mr. Swain’s brother and an SP-ranked officer Ajay Pratap Swain had also tested positive.

Former Minister and senior BJD MLA from Baramba in Cuttack district Debi Prasad Mishra and party MLA from Jagatsinghpur Prasanta Muduli had also tested positive.

BJD MP from the Nabarangpur Lok Sabha constituency Ramesh Majhi and BJP MP from Bargarh Suresh Pujari also tested positive. While Mr. Majhi has been admitted to a COVID-19 hospital, Mr. Pujari has since recovered from the disease.

Odisha is placed at the 10th spot in the count in the country. The last one lakh cases were reported in just 32 days.

Khordha district, Bhubaneswar comes under its jurisdiction, is now the epicentre of the pandemic. It has so reported 25,996 positive cases pushing Ganjam to the second spot. The government claimed to have brought the situation under control in Ganjam after deploying many health professionals and ramping up tests. The confirmed cases in the southern Odisha district are 19,211.

Odisha now has 34,489 active cases, while 1,15,279 people have recovered. The recovery rate stands at 76.44% and the fatality rate at 0.41%.