BHUBANESWAR: Night curfew will return to all over Odisha and weekend shutdown will be clamped in urban centres in 10 districts bordering Chhattisgarh in view of the worsening Covid-19 situation in the state.
Announcing the new measures following the rapid surge in Covid cases, Chief Secretary Suresh Chandra Mahapatra said that weekend shutdown will be imposed in urban areas of Sundargarh, Jharsuguda, Sambalpur, Bargarh, Balangir, Nuapada, Kalahandi, Nabarangpur, Koraput, and Malkangiri districts from coming Saturday. Night curfew in these areas will be extended from 9 pm to 5 am to 6 pm to 5 am.
Besides, night curfew will be imposed in urban areas of all the other 20 districts including Bhubaneswar and Cuttack from 9 pm to 5 am from April 16. The government also announced that no religious, social, cultural, academic, political gatherings and processions will be allowed until further order.
Government offices will function with 50% capacity and private offices have been asked to work with minimum manpower.
The state government suspended inter-state bus operations from April 19. However, intra-state bus operations to continue with sitting capacity. Similarly, two passengers besides the driver will be allowed in auto richshaws and taxis, he said and added that Jatras/operas will be allowed with 1000 people with strict adherence to six feet social distancing and wearing of masks.
Similarly , higher education institutions will be closed from April 19. Schools and coaching institutes have been asked to conduct offline classes. Govt will
issue separate guidelines for medical and technical colleges. Odisha Government reappointed 14 senior IAS officers as Covid-19 observers to monitor and review the pandemic situation in the districts allotted to them on a day-to-day basis.