Bhubaneswar: A day before the commencement of the monsoon session of the Odisha Legislative Assembly, Deputy Speaker Rajani Kant Singh tested positive for COVID-19 today.

The Angul MLA has developed mild fever and been admitted to the SUM COVID-19 Hospital here. "With the blessings of Lord Jagannath, I wish to recover soon and continue to serve the people," he said.

Singh urged those who came in contact with him recently to undergo COVID-19 test.

Similarly, Tourism Minister Jyoti Prakash Panigrahi once again tested positive for COVID-19.  He had also tested positive for the virus three weeks ago.

While the assembly session is set to begin tomorrow, a total of 43 MLAs have so far contracted the virus.

The legislators include Umakanta Samantaray (Satyabadi), Susant Rout (Bhubaneswar-north), Ananta Narayan Jena (Bhubaneswar-central), Bikram Panda (Berhampur), Byomakesh Ray (Chandbali), Soumya Ranjan Patnaik (Khandapada), Pradeep Maharathy (Pipili), Shankar Oram (Biramitrapur), Aditya Madhi (Malkangiri), Women and Child Development Minister Tukuni Sahu, Tourism Minister Jyoti Prakash Panigrahi, Handlooms, Textiles and Handicrafts Minister Padmini Dian, Higher Education Minister Arun Kumar Sahoo and Labour Minister Susanta Singh.