BHUBANESWAR: The government lifted the night curfew from all urban areas of the State from February 18 following a steady decline in the number of Covid-19 cases in the State.
A notification issued on Friday by the office of the Special Relief Commissioner said, “Night curfew is withdrawn/lifted from all urban areas of the State with effect from February 18, 2020.” It said that a continuous decrease in the number of Covid cases is observed in the state and the number of active cases has also decreased.
Night curfew was being imposed in urban areas from 10 pm to 5 am since February 1. The duration of this restriction was extended by an hour in January when there was a steep hike in the number of Covid-19 in the state during the third wave.
The lifting of the night curfew has come days after the Centre’s directive to the states to ease additional Covid-19 curbs. On February 15, the Centre had written to state and union territories to review and amend/do away with any additional restrictions with India witnessing a drop in new cases and active caseload.
Odisha has been reporting less than 1000 new infections for the last four days and currently has 7,855 active cases. The state reported 671 cases during the last 24 hours. However, 15 persons have died in the state due to Covid during the period. This decision is being seen as a step towards minimizing the impact on lives and livelihoods.
However, several questions remained unanswered in the fresh notification by the State about restrictions imposed for February. The notification maintained that in case of any other doubt, the revenue and disaster management will issue necessary directions or clarifications.