Odisha shuts 3 dists for 60 hours as cases rise to 89

TNN | Apr 24, 2020, 04:57 IST

Bhubaneswar: The state government on Thursday announced complete shutdown of the three districts of Balasore, Bhadrak and Jajpur for 60 hours after they witnessed a spurt in Covid-19 cases. The shutdown came into effect from 10 pm of Thursday.
Announcing the decision, chief secretary Asit Tripathy said, “It will be like a curfew. Nobody will be allowed to come out of their houses. All shops, barring identified medicine stores, will remain close. The government will use the shutdown to trace contacts of infected persons and test them.”
The government move comes hours after six more persons – four from Jajpur and two from Balasore – tested positive for the virus, raising the total number of Covid-19 positive cases in the state to 89. The decision will ensure more than 55 lakh people in the three districts stay indoors till 10 am on Sunday.
As part of the shutdown, all entry and exit points have been sealed while the porous borders with West Bengal have been closed. Twenty-seven platoons of police have been deployed to ensure the shutdown is effective. “We appeal to the people to cooperate in their own interest,” the chief secretary said.
Tripathy said the spurt in cases in the three districts has raised concern. “Of the 29 cases reported in the state in the past five days, 28 are from these three districts. The positive cases belong to either those who had returned from West Bengal or their close contacts. We had to review our preparedness in view of the spike,” the chief secretary said.
He said all those who returned from West Bengal and their close contacts are being identified with the help of sarpanches and are being quarantined.
In total, these three districts have reported 33 cases. While Jajpur has reported 12, Bhadrak reported 11 and Balasore 10.
DGP Abhay, meanwhile, asked the people to cooperate or face legal action. “We appeal to residents of Jajpur, Bhadrak and Balasore districts to observe shutdown for 60 hours as announced by the chief secretary. Police will be constrained to prosecute and take legal action against those violating the shutdown,” the DGP said. The DGP said movement of goods on the national highway will continue even during the shutdown.
The government decision to impose shutdown comes from its earlier experience of a similar situation in Bhubaneswar. “The capital city has not reported any positive case since April 14 after three of its affected localities were put under complete shutdown for two to three weeks,” Tripathy observed.
The new cases reported on Thursday include that of a 55-year-old woman and a 36-year-old man from Balasore besides three women aged 48, 70 and 80, as well as a 21-year-old man, from Jajpur. All of them are family members of those who had returned from West Bengal and tested positive.
The government appointed three senior IAS officers – S K Lohani (Bhadrak), Pramod Meherda (Jajpur) and S K Vashisth (Balasore) – to help the district administrations in Covid-19 related arrangements.
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