Balasore: The Divisional Forest Office of Balasore Wildlife Division has been shut after a senior official tested positive for COVID-19, a release stated today.

By the order of Balasore Collector, the office of divisional forest officer at Kuruda has been closed for two days -- July 15 and 16 -- to protect other employees working at the office after an Assistant Forest Conservator's COVID-19 test result came out positive.

Worth mentioning that the COVID-19 cases in the northern coastal district of Odisha is on rise. According to State Information & Public Relations (I&PR) Department, as many as 61 positive cases have been reported from Balasore district in last 24 hours taking the total count to 615 with 193 active cases so far.