PURI: In view of the rise in Covid-19 cases across the State, the doors of Srimandir in Puri will remain closed for public from January 10 to January 31. This was decided at a virtual meeting chaired by chief administrator of Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) Krishan Kumar with the Chhatisa Nijog on Friday.
Till the guidelines for closure of temple come into force, visitors will be allowed darshan of the Trinity till 8.30 pm with strict adherence to Covid protocols. However, daily rituals of the deities will be carried out as per schedule by servitors.
The move came after detection of three Omicron variant cases in a hotel in the town besides several temple administration officials and servitors testing Covid positive in the last couple of days. “Since large number of devotees come from different places, keeping in mind the safety of the servitors and devotees and to check the spread of the virus, it was decided to close the shrine till the end of the month,” said Collector Samarth Verma. Devotees can continue to offer prayers to Patitapaban as they did during the second wave following Covid appropriate behaviour.
The district, which reported new cases in single digits till some days back, saw a sudden surge in new infections. On Wednesday, the numbers stood at 30 which jumped to 54 on Thursday and Friday, respectively. New restrictions in the form of night curfew from 9pm to 5am are also in force.