Bhubaneswar, Aug 4 (PTI) In a bid to boost the morale of the thousands of people engaged in the fight against COVID-19 in the state, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik urged people to observe a silent prayer on Wednesday and take an oath to follow guidelines to avoid infection.

"I will lead a silent prayer in the memory of COVID Warriors. I appeal to my 4.5 crore sisters and brothers of Odisha to join this silent prayer at 6 pm tomorrow," Patnaik said.

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He said the best way to honour the sacrifice of COVID Warriors is to support them cooperate with them.

After the silent prayer, people will take a pledge to adhere to the guidelines issued by the state and the central governments to stop the spread of COVID-19 in Odisha, Patnaik said in a statement.

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The people of the state are fighting COVID pandemic for almost five months in the best possible manner, Patnaik said.

"This would not have been possible without the commitment and dedication of thousands of COVID Warriors who are working round the clock," he said.

He further said that these warriors have sacrificed hugely to keep the rest of the people safe and some have also sacrificed their lives in this deadly fight.

The CM also asked officials to ensure that the COVID Warriors including health workers, anganwadi, ASHA and others get their due.

The government is yet to reveal the exact number of COVID Warriors who lost their lives. PTI AAM NN NN 08050132 NNNNtes to engage in tampering or evasion or other improper conduct which can limit the efficacy of testing,” the AIU said in an e-mailed statement.

The AIU added that under World Anti-Doping Agency rules “proof that a telephone call was made is not a requisite element of a missed test and the lack of any telephone call does not give the athlete a defense to the assertion of a missed test.”

Some of Coleman's earlier missed tests were not with the AIU but with the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, whose own handbook for athletes says phone calls are usually reserved only for the last five minutes of a time slot and “to confirm the unavailability of the athlete, not to locate an athlete for testing.”

Athletes are required to list their whereabouts for an hour each day when they must be available to be tested. A violation means an athlete either did not fill out forms telling authorities where they could be found, or that they weren't where they said they would be when testers arrived.

Coleman said in his post he has been appealing the latest missed test for six months with the AIU, which runs the anti-doping program for World Athletics. He explained there was no record of anyone coming to his home and that if he had been called he was only five minutes away.

It's the second time Coleman has faced a potential ban for a whereabouts violation. Coleman won the 100 meters at the world championships in Doha, Qatar, last September after the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency dropped his case for missed tests because of a technicality.

“I have never and will never use performance enhancing supplements or drugs,” Coleman wrote Tuesday. “I am willing to take a drug test EVERY single day for the rest of my career for all I care to prove my innocence.” Coleman is the latest in a string of big-name athletes hit with whereabouts charges in 2020.

The AIU filed a similar charge this month against women's 400-meter world champion Salwa Eid Naser of Bahrain. She was already under investigation when she won gold in Doha last year in the fastest time since 1985.

Former U.S. national 200 champion Deajah Stevens was suspended in May. (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)