Odisha extends partial lockdown, night curfew by two weeks

Vendors at their stalls in Bhubaneswar on July 13. Shops are allowed to remain open from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Category-B districts, and from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. in Category-B districts.

The Odisha government on July 15 extended the partial lockdown in the State by another two weeks. Announcing further relaxations in restrictions from 6 a.m. on July 16 until 6 a.m. on August 1, the government ordered that night curfew will remain operational in all 30 districts of the State for the next two weeks.

The government said in its order that considering the case positivity rate, night curfew will remain operational in Category-A districts from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. and in Category-B districts from 5 p.m. to 6 a.m. every day. All commercial establishments and those selling essential items, food and vegetables and will remain closed during night curfew. Medical shops are exempted.

Districts have been divided in to two categories based on case load, positivity rate and other parameters. While 20 districts—Angul, Bargarh, Balangir, Boudh, Dhenkanal, Deogarh, Gajapati, Ganjam, Jharsuguda, Kandhamal, Kalahandi, Keonjhar, Koraput, Malkangiri, Nabarangpur, Nuapada, Rayagada, Sambalpur, Subarnapur and Sundargarh—have been placed in Category-A, the remaining 10 districts of Balasore, Bhadrak, Cuttack, Jajpur, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapada, Khordha, Mayurbhanj, Nayagarh and Puri have been placed in Category-B.

The government announced that shops and commercial establishments will be allowed to remain open from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Category-B districts while shops and business establishments will remain open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. in Category-A districts.

The weekend shutdown, starting from 5 p.m. on Fridays until 6 a.m. on Mondays every week, will be imposed in the Category-B districts like the previous weeks, the order said.

The government reiterated that all educational institutions, religious places, parks and malls will remain closed until August 1.

While inter-State public transport by bus will remain suspended, intra-State public transport by bus will be allowed. Passengers will not be allowed to travel standing. Public transport by bus to Puri town will remain suspended until midnight of July 25. Taxi and auto-rickshaw services will resume in all districts with only two passengers allowed.

All official meetings will be allowed with the participation of a maximum number of 100 persons and official programmes for inauguration and laying of foundation stones will be allowed with the participation of a maximum number of 30 persons, adhering to COVID-19 protocols.

While religious congregations will remain prohibited, marriages have been permitted with not more than 25 persons participating, with approval from local authorities. In case of thread ceremony, funerals and last rites, the number of persons participating will not be more than 20.

The government advised persons with co-morbidities, pregnant women and children aged below 10 not to venture outside except for essential and health purposes.

A total of 2,110 new COVID-19 cases were reported in Odisha on July 15, with the highest number of 458 cases reported from Khordha district.

The total number of cases in the State increased to 9,47,859, of which 9,20,646 had recovered. While there were 22,299 active cases on July 15, the death toll due to COVID-19 increased to 4,861, with 66 deaths reported on the day.