The Malkangiri district administration in Odisha has clamped night curfew in the wake of a surge in COVID-19 cases in the State.
Odisha on Monday reported 146 cases, highest daily spike in last two months. The news of 45 persons testing positive on the campus of the Xavier Institute of Management, a premier B-school, created panic among people.
The affected persons had travel history to Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu and the institute was sealed, said Special Relief Commissioner Pradip Jena.
He said all the 45 positive cases were asymptomatic and were being monitored closely.
District administrations were assessing the situation and contemplating to take strict preventive actions in view of the series of major festivals in all parts of the State.
Malkangiri had neither reported any new case nor did it have any active case but the administration imposed night curfew from March 23 to March 31 pro-actively. The curfew, first time in three months, will remain in force between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. However, essential services including ambulance and milk vans have been kept out of its purview.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik is likely to take stock of the evolving situation on Tuesday. However, all district Collectors and SPs had already been asked to follow the COVID-19 guidelines in marketplaces, malls and other commercial establishments.
The government, according to sources, is toying with the idea of imposing restriction to avoid crowding during festivals. The government may revive the earlier management system in which the panchayati raj institution had played key role in dealing with pandemic last year.
The Ganjam administration has made RT-PCR tests mandatory for persons coming from Surat since a sizeable migrant workers population is employed there.
