Srimandir closed for devotees from 8 pm as night curfew comes into force in Puri  

PURI: In a bid to break the chain of Covid-19 transmission, the district administration imposed night curfew in the Pilgrim town from Saturday. The curfew will be in force from 9 pm to 5 am.  

The district has been reporting more than 100 Covid cases daily since the last five days with Puri town recording over 50 cases.

As announced earlier, the Srimandir security started vacating devotees from the Sri Jagannath temple complex from 8 pm and doors were closed by 9 pm. From 8 pm onwards, no devotee was allowed entry into the shrine.

The entire town has been divided into 10 sectors for effective implementation of the night curfew. Police personnel have been deployed at important junctions.

Meanwhile, swab samples of servitors, who returned from Kumbh Mela at Haridwar, are being collected by health teams for RT-PCR tests.

The servitors have been advised to remain in home isolation till their test report comes.

Besides, the administration has directed hotel owners to only allow visitors who produce Covid negative report obtained within 96 hours or vaccination certificate of the second dose.

Similarly, devotees have been instructed to produce their RT-PCR negative certificate, photo ID cards or vaccination certificate before they go inside Srimandir for darshan of the Trinity.