One hour window from 5 am to 6 am for morning walkers in Odisha

BHUBANESWAR :  As the weekend shutdown comes into force in all urban areas of the State from Saturday, the government announced relaxations for some activities including morning walk and jogging.
Special Relief Commissioner Pradeep Kumar Jena on Friday said one-hour relaxation will be given from 5 am to 6 am to allow people to go for a morning walk, jogging, cycling and other fitness activities on Saturdays and Sundays.

“The night curfew will continue till 5 am on Saturday and thereafter weekend shutdown will be imposed from 6 am after the one-hour relaxation for fitness activities. The shutdown will continue till 5 am on Monday,” he said. Public distribution system and related activities have also been allowed during the shutdown subject to strict adherence of norms of physical distance of six feet and other safety protocols. Essential services and permitted activities will be allowed during this period. 

Meanwhile, in view of the rapid surge in Covid-19 across the districts, the government on Friday asked the collectors to operationalise all  Covid care centres (CCCs) with oxygen support. The issue was discussed at a meeting chaired by Chief Secretary Suresh Chandra Mahapatra in which he reviewed the Covid situation in different districts. The collectors were advised to keep the Covid call centres fully active and responsive on 24X7 basis. The Chief Secretary asked the district collectors to ensure that patients are reached in the least possible time and also monitor the home isolation cases closely.

He said that the serious patients should be brought to hospital as and when needed. He also asked the collectors to put in place a system for informing about the health condition of serious patients to their family members so that they do not rush to the hospitals. Besides, the collectors and superintendents of police were also directed to deploy firefighting teams in all the Covid hospitals for instant action to protect the patients, health personnel and property in case of mishaps.