Odisha news: Nine districts report no new cases of Covid-19; BJD’s Maharathy wins Pipili byelection

The news updates from across Odisha that happened on Oct 3. From news on Covid cases to unlock restrictions, to Covid guidelines and protocols, and from weather updates to traffic alerts, sports and other news, we have got you covered. Thanks for joining CityBuzz.click‘s live blog today.

* BJD candidate Rudra Pratap Maharathy has won the Pipili by-election with a margin of 20,916 votes.

* Bhubaneswar reports 149 new Covid positive cases and 192 recoveries, BMC has reported. Meanwhile, Cuttack city has reported 44 news Covid positive cases, with 27 recoveries.

* Khurda district recorded the highest number of fresh cases at 243, followed by Cuttack at 69.

* Bolangir, Boudh, Dhenkanal, Gajapati, Kandhamal, Keonjhar, Kalahandi, Nuapada and Rayagada districts did not report any new case in the last 24 hours.

* Odisha now has 5,280 active cases, while 579 more people were cured of the disease in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of recoveries to 10,14,412.

* Online slot booking for Covid vaccines (1st and 2nd dose) in Cuttack for Oct 5th and 6th, opens at 6 PM today.

* Online slot booking for Puri also opens at 9PM tonight.

* Online slot opening alert for Rourkela too. Please refer to the tweet below for more details:

BJD’s Rudra Pratap Maharathy widens lead to 11,196 votes in Pipili byelection

* Rudra Pratap Maharathy on Sunday widened his lead over nearest rival Ashrit Pattanayak of the BJP to 11,196 votes at the end of the eleventh round of counting, the Election Commission said.

* Maharathy secured 42,774 votes, while Pattanayak bagged 31,578 votes, and Congress nominee Bishwokeshan Harichandan Mohapatra got 2,602 votes.

* Of the 78,675 votes counted till the end of the eleventh round, 401 people chose the NOTA (none of the above) option, it said.

* BJD candidate Rudra Pratap Maharathy was leading in the Pipili by-election in Odisha’s Puri district by 5,140 votes over his nearest rival Ashrit Pattnaik of the BJP till the end of the fourth round of counting on Sunday, as reported by PTI.

List of government and private Covid testing centres in Cuttack.

* Odisha has reported 528 new Covid positive cases, of which 310 in quarantine and 218 are local contacts, State’s health department has reported.

* Amid tight security and stringent Covid-19 measures, counting of votes for Odisha’s Pipili Assembly bypoll began at 8 am in Puri on Sunday, officials said this morning.

* The BJD had fielded ex-MLA Maharathy’s son Rudrapratap while the BJP nominated Ashrit Pattnayak and Congress had nominated Bishwokeshan Harichandan Mohapatra for the MLA seat.

* Bhubaneswar region under BMC on Saturday had reported 157 new Covid positive cases, with 242 recoveries. While Cuttack city area on Saturday under CMC registered 33 Covid positive cases, with 48 recoveries.

* Odisha on Saturday reported 478 new Covid-19 cases, taking the tally to 10,27,431, a health department official said.

* As of Saturday, the Test Positivity Rate (TPR) in the state stands at 0.69 per cent.