The Odisha government on Saturday imposed night curfew in 10 districts mostly in the western region following a sharp rise in COVID-19 cases. The night curfew will come into force from Monday.
“In the interest of the general public and to prevent transmission of infection, it is directed that night curfew in the districts of Sundargarh, Jharsuguda, Sambalpur, Bargarh, Balangir, Nuapada, Kalahandi, Nabarangpur, Koraput and Malkangiri will be in force from April 5 till further orders,” said Chief Secretary Suresh Chandra Mohapatra issuing an order.
All shops, commercial establishments, offices, institutions and movement of individuals will remain closed or prohibited between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m., except for essential activities, the order says.
Collectors and Municipal Commissioners will issue orders for their respective jurisdictions such as Section 144 of CrPC, and ensure strict compliance, it says.
Collectors may impose any further restrictions or allow such activities as felt appropriate considering the local situation, said Chief Secretary in the order.
The government has, however, kept emergency services pertaining to health, electricity, police, fire service, water supply, telecom, railway and airport out of the purview of restrictions. Employees of the Information Technology and media houses have been given relaxation. Home delivery services have been allowed to function night time.
Odisha has been consistently reporting more than 400 daily cases for past two days. Ten days ago, the daily spike in the cases was in the range of just above 100. Western Odisha districts which share borders with Chhattisgarh are especially vulnerable to rapid rise in infections.
The highest — 77 — fresh cases were reported in Khordha districts while western Odisha districts such as Nuapada (71), Sundargarh (75), Kalahandi (29) and Bargarh (19) had high caseloads. The spurt is attributed to movement of infected people from Chhattisgarh.
The number of cases has increased to 3,42,224 while 1,921 have succumbed to the disease. The Kandhamal district administration on Saturday declared two small containment zones in Phulbani municipality area while a sarpanch in Kalahandi announced containment zone in her panchayat jurisdiction.
