The Odisha state election commission today postpones the panchayat by-polls due to the rising coronavirus scare. Bypolls are scheduled to be held on 24 March for two Zilla Parishad seats, 6 sarpanches, 8 samiti members and 84 ward members. Odisha reported its first coronavirus patient on Sunday. The 31-year-old man from Baragada had returned from Italy to India on March 6 and remained in self-quarantine in New Delhi for a week.