BHUBANESWAR: As the Covid-19 situation continues to be grim with alarming rise of infection in rural and interior parts of Odisha, the State Government on Tuesday extended the lockdown for two more weeks till 5 am of June 1.
Making the announcement, Chief Secretary Suresh Chandra Mahapatra said the decision to extended the lockdown was taken after noticing positive trends in the last 15 days.
While the rate of positivity in the State has remained stagnant during the lockdown, some Covid hotspots western Odisha districts bordering Chhattisgarh are witnessing a declining trend in the spread of infection.
“Keeping this changed situation in mind, the State government decided to further extend the lockdown period for two more weeks. The weekend short down will also continue,” Mahapatra said.
As the roadside vending zones are getting crowded, the government reduced the period of relaxation for buying essentials from six hours to four hours.
Earlier, the people were allowed from 6 am to 12 pm to get essential commodities from nearby shops and vending zones from Monday to Friday. The revised time to be effective from May 19 is from 7 am to 11 am.
There will be no restriction on movement of goods and construction materials, but the movement of people will be strictly regulated, he said.
Stating that some strict measures have been taken so far as social gathering at marriage function, thread ceremony, cremation and other rituals after death, the Chief Secretary said the total number in congregation in these functions has been halved from 50 to 25.
Livelihood activities in agriculture and allied sectors and shops dealing with these sectors will be allowed to function normally as earlier. Similarly, construction activities have been kept out of the purview of the lockdown restriction.
While offices of the state government, central government and private sector including banks will function, the staff strength has been reduced to bare minimum. A separate guideline for this will be issued by the state government soon, he said.
The Chief Secretary said that Covid testing and vaccination will continue unhindered as those are essential to check the pandemic.
“The main objective of the lockdown is to keep people indoor to break the Covid transmission chain. The people have been cooperating the government in its fight against the coronavirus. I expect similar response from them in the next two weeks so that we can succeed in our battle,” the CS added.