The Odisha government on Sunday announced sweeping restrictions in wake of the rising COVID-19 cases in the state. As per the restrictions announced, the state will go under a complete lockdown for 14 days which will start from May 5 and will continue till May 19.

As per the guidelines issued by the Odisha government, a person can walk only 500 metres to buy vegetables from 7 am till 12 pm every day. However, the government has not imposed any restrictions on the movement of essential services and people related to health care facilities and services. The government’s order on Sunday also stated that the state will witness a complete shutdown on weekends starting 6 pm on Fridays till 5 am on Monday. During weekends, they will only be able to avail medical services.

Check Full Guidelines here:

The Lockdown and Weekend Shutdown shall not be applicable to the election-related works such as movement of election-related personnel from their place of residence to the place of training, disbursal, polling station and back, movement of election materials, movement of magistrates, election supervising officials and law & order personnel, candidates, authorized personnel including polling & counting agents and voters on the date of poll and conduct of poll and counting of votes, in respect of bye-election to the 110-Pipili Assembly Constituency.

The lockdown is primarily aimed at restricting the movement of persons. The movement of goods and goods carriers shall not be affected during the lockdown.

These things are prohibited during the two-week lockdown:

Buses for public transport.

Intra-State movement of individuals by road, except for medical reasons or for activities permitted under these guidelines.

All educational, training, coaching institutions, etc., except as allowed by Government. However, physical conduct of examinations by state/ national/ international bodies shall be allowed on a case to case basis by the respective Departments with due intimation to all concerned authorities.

Exhibitions/ Trade Fairs/ Melas/ physical Business to Business meetings are prohibited. However, such activities may be taken up in virtual mode.

Taxis (including auto-rickshaws and cycle rickshaws) and services of cab aggregators (except as specified in subsequent paragraphs of this order).

All cinema halls, malls, market complexes, gymnasiums, sports complexes, swimming pools, entertainment parks, theatres, parks, bars and auditoriums, assembly halls, Merry-go-round (Doli) / Meena bazaar and related activities and similar places.

Jatra/ opera/ open-air theatres shall not be allowed to operate.

All salons/ barbershop, spa. beauty parlour etc. shall remain prohibited.

All social/ political/ sports/ entertainment/ academic/ cultural/ religious functions/ other gatherings.

All religious places/ places of worship shall be closed for the public. However religious rituals are allowed with bare minimum priests/ servitors and staff. Religious congregations are strictly prohibited.

Marriages shall be permitted. with approval from local authorities, with not more than 50 persons and in case of funerals and last rites. the number of persons participating shall not be more than 20 (for the entire event) including hosts, guests, priests and catering and other support staff. Under no circumstances, the number of participants shall exceed the ceiling for the entire event.

Activities allowed during the lockdown in Odisha:

Hospitals. nursing homes, clinics, telemedicine facilities.

Dispensaries, chemists, pharmacies. all kinds of medicine shops including Jan Aushadhi Kendras and medical equipment shops.

Medical laboratories and collection centres.

Pharmaceutical and medical research labs, institutions carrying out COVID-19 related research.

Veterinary Hospitals, dispensaries, clinics. pathology labs, sale and supply of vaccine and medicine.

Authorised private establishments, which support the provisioning of essential services, or efforts for containment of COVID-19, including home care providers, diagnostics, supply chain firms serving hospitals.

Manufacturing units of drugs, pharmaceuticals. medical devices, medical oxygen, their packaging material, raw material and intermediates.

Construction of medical/ health infrastructure including manufacture of ambulances.

Movement (inter and intra State, including by air) of all medical and veterinary personnel, scientists. nurses. para-medical staff. lab technicians, mid-wives and other hospital support services, including ambulances.

This comes as the state continues to witness a high load of coronavirus infections daily. On Sunday, Odisha registered 8,015 new COVID-19 cases, 5,634 recoveries and 14 COVID-19-related deaths in the last 24 hours. The Odisha government had earlier this month imposed a weekend curfew in the 20 urban districts of the state in wake of the resurgence in COVID-19 cases. However, the weekend curfew was imposed for one week and ended on April 26.

Source: https://english.jagran.com/india/odisha-coronavirus-restrictions-complete-lockdown-live-news-night-curfew-shopping-malls-restaurants-gyms-shops-weekend-curfew-covid-guidelines-latest-updates-10026290