Odisha: Two-day weekend shutdown in 17 districts begins

AMN / WEB DESK

A two-day weekend shutdown in 17 districts has begun in Odisha from Saturday. The State Government has imposed a shutdown in the districts with high cases to flatten the rising COVID-19 curve.

Earlier, the State Government had imposed a weekend shut down in 10 districts including Ganjam, Gajapati, Khurda, Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur, Jajpur, Balasore, Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar and Jharsuguda. However, Collectors of seven other districts took the decision to impose the 48-hour shutdown in their respective districts in view of the rising number of COVID cases.

The seven districts are Rayagada, Koraput, Kandhamal, Kendrapara, Balangir, Bargarh and Dhenkanal. The police administration has tightened the security to enforce the complete shutdown of non-essential services. While all essential services including health care, drinking water, electricity supply and ATM counters were allowed to remain open during the shutdown.

Similarly, home delivery of food by restaurants and distribution of LPG cylinders was permitted. Moreover, Odisha has reported 8,601 COVID cases, while 5,705 patients have recovered and 31 people have died so far.