Covid-19: Odisha extends partial lockdown till July 16

BHUBANESWAR: The state government on Wednesday announced the extention of the “partial lockdown” till July 16 where schools, colleges, malls, cinema halls and places of worships will continue to remain closed. Night curfew from 6pm to 6am will be in force across state amid concern over high test positivity rate (TPR) in 10 coastal districts.
Chief secretary Suresh Chandra Mohapatra said while there is no permission for spa, beauty parlours to resume, small barber shops can reopen. All swimming pools will remain shut. The ongoing ceiling on maximum attendance of 25 persons in weddings and 20 in funerals and last rites, curbs on community feast, socio-cultural and political gatherings will continue. Jatra and theatres can’t perform till July 16.
Twenty districts with test positivity rate below 5% (categorized A) will enjoy more relaxations compared to the rest 10 districts (category B) in the graded unlocking from Thursday. Khurda, of which Bhubaneswar is a part, Cuttack, Puri, Balasore, Bhadrak, Jagatsinghpur, Jajpur, Kendrapada, Mayurbhanj and Nayagarh are in category B. Angul, Dhenkanal and Keonjhar which were in category B in past two weeks have been moved to category A because of improvement in pandemic situation in these districts.
Week-end shutdown will continue in the 10 category B districts. Bus transport will be allowed in Category A, but not in B, the chief secretary said. Trains to and from Puri will continue to remain suspended till July 23, the day of Niladri Bije rituals in Jagannath temple.
All categories of shops (except those in malls) will reopen from Thursday. Those in category A may remain open from 6am to 6pm all days. But in category B, the timing will be from 6am to 2pm from Mondays to Fridays while these would remain shut on Saturdays and Sundays.
Weekly and daily haats (makeshift markers), which were so far closed, will reopen in 20 category ‘A’ districts. However, these will remain shut in the rest 10. Two-wheeler with pillion rider and four-wheelers, taxis and auto-rickshaws are allowed across the state as per normal time schedule (6am to 6pm) across the state irrespective of shop opening times.
“While the government has decided on the new guidelines striking a balance between life and livelihood, people should not move out unless it’s necessary. We are still witnessing hundreds of new infections,” the chief secretary said.