Bhubaneswar: Amid the rapid surge in Covid-19 cases in Odisha, the State Government on Wednesday imposed fresh curbs which will come into force from 5 am of 7th January and remain till 5 am of 1st February 2022.
As per the announcement, night curfew timing has been revised and the new timing is from 9 pm to 5 am in all urban areas of the State.
Informing the same, Special Relief Commissioner Pradeep Kumar Jena said that in the wake of the new variant of Coronavirus, Omicron, the State Government has decided to shut down physical classes for all schools and colleges.
“The ongoing summative or assessment examination for Std X students will continue till January 8, but after that, all schools will be strictly closed for offline classes. However, online classes will continue. All-State Government offices will run with 50% staff,” said Jena.
“A maximum of 100 people will be allowed to participate in government official meetings or training programmes. Cinema halls will have to run with 50% capacity. Jatra and open-air theatres will operate with only 1000 spectators. Roadside vendors, hotels and bars will be allowed to operate till 9 pm,” he said.
“In small shops and roadside outlets, only a maximum of five people should be allowed to stand at a time. Hotels and bars can accommodate only 50% of their seating capacity. Guests in marriages and thread ceremonies reduced to 100. No cultural events, trade fairs. No socio-religious and cultural events at any hotel, park or other public places,” Jena added.
“We need to be very cautious right from the get-go or else, we might face grave situations. Even those who have taken the double dose of the COVID vaccine are getting infected. However, the impact of the infection is less for those who are vaccinated,” Jena further added.
The transmission of the Omicron variant is around 3 times more than the Delta variant. The cases are rapidly increasing in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Delhi and a few other states. Today India has reported more than 58,000 cases while Odisha has reported 1,280 cases on Wednesday which is 79% more than the numbers in the State on Tuesday.
