Bhubaneswar, June 30: As was widely anticipated, the Odisha Government on Wednesday extended the ongoing partial lockdown, imposed to contain the spread of Covid infection in the State, till 6 AM of July 16.
Chief Secretary Suresh Chandra Mohapatra said that night curfew will continue in the entire State from 6 PM to 6 AM.
The Chief Secretary said that as many as 20 districts have been grouped as Category-A districts where the Test Positivity Rate (TPR) is less than 5%. These are – Angul, Dhenkanal, Keonjhar, Sundargarh, Jharsuguda, Bargarh, Sambalpur, Deogarh, Kalahandi, Balangir, Nuapada, Sonepur, Ganjam, Gajapati, Kandhamal, Boudh, Koraput, Nabarangpur, Malkangiri and Rayagada.
“All shops except shopping malls and spas will remain open from 6 AM to 6 PM in 20 Category-A districts with strict adherence to the COVID-19 protocols. Bus transport is allowed in these districts with seating capacity only. Taxis and autos can carry maximum of two persons apart from driver,” said Chief Secretary Mohapatra adding that no weekend shutdown will be enforced in these 20 districts.
Similarly, small hair salons are allowed to operate in Category-A districts. Outdoor and indoor film shooting can resume while daily markets and weekly haats have also been permitted in Category-A districts, added the Chief Secretary.
The rest 10 districts, the Chief Secretary said, have been grouped into Category-B where the TPR is above 5%. These are – Nayagarh, Puri, Khurda, Cuttack, Mayurbhanj, Jajpur, Kendrapara, Jagatsinghpur, Bhadrak and Balasore. All shops except malls and spas are allowed to open in 10 Category-B districts from 6 AM-2 PM, the Chief Secretary further said.
After enforcing the lockdown curbs from May 5 to 19 in the first phase and from May 19 to June 1, the State Government relaxed the curbs subsequently.
