COVID-19: Odisha orders complete shutdown of Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Bhadrak for 48 hours

Chief Secretary Asit Tripathy said that anyone found violating curfew rules will be picked up and put in the quarantine facility set up by the government.
The deserted Ram Mandir in Bhubaneswar on Ram Navami as the gates were closed due to the lockdown on Thursday. (Photo| EPS)
The deserted Ram Mandir in Bhubaneswar on Ram Navami as the gates were closed due to the lockdown on Thursday. (Photo| EPS)

BHUBANESWAR: Initiating extreme preventive measures, the Odisha government on Friday announced the complete shutdown of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack cities along with Bhadrak town for 48 hours from 8 pm on Friday to check community transmission of the novel coronavirus in these urban localities.

While Bhubaneswar has so far reported four COVID-19 positive cases, Bhadrak and Cuttack recorded one each.

Chief Secretary Asit Tripathy said areas under Bhubaneswar and Cuttack city limits
and Bhadrak Municipality will remain shut from 8 pm on Friday to 8 pm on
Sunday. "All passes issued to people engaged in emergency services stand suspended during the period. In case of any medical emergency, people will have to
take the help of ambulances," he said.

Explaining what the shutdown means to people when the 21-day lockdown is still in force, state police chief Abhay said that no one is allowed to go out of their
homes during the 48-hour period. "It is like curfew. No grocery, vegetable and other
essential food item shops will be allowed to open in these areas," the DGP clarified.

Since all exceptions allowed in the Union Ministry of Home Affairs notification
stand withdrawn by the Odisha State Disaster Management Authority, the Chief
Secretary said that anyone found violating curfew rules will be picked up and put in
the quarantine facility set up by the government.

"Only a very few medical stores as decided by local administration will be allowed
to remain. We have decided to keep adequate numbers of ambulances on
standby for patients if they require any emergency medical attention," Tripathy added.

The decision was taken after three persons from the three localities tested positive
for COVID-19 in the last three days raising the fear of local transmission.

While a 60-year-old Bhubaneswar native having no travel history was detected with
coronavirus infection on Thursday, a 29-year-old chef from Bhadrak with
a travel history to Dubai tested positive on Wednesday despite being asymptomatic for 12 days after his return.

The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation has already sealed Surya Nagar area, where the patient's house is located.

On Friday, a man from Cuttack with a recent travel history to New Delhi tested
positive for COVID-19 taking the total number of cases in the state to six. The
man is suspected to have attended the religious congregation at the Tablighi
Jamaat's headquarters in Nizamuddin. His contact tracing is on.

Meanwhile, the first positive case from Bhubaneswar has recovered and
tested negative for COVID-19 twice. He is being discharged. With a travel history
to Italy, the 33-year-old was detected positive on March 15.

With the fresh case from Cuttack, the number of active COVID-19 patients in Odisha now stands at four. Earlier, the second patient, who had tested positive after returning from the UK, was discharged from AIIMS, Bhubaneswar.

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