Time to impose stricter restrictions in Jharkhand to curb Covid spread: CM Soren

Since April 29, the state is under lock and key, with only essential services allowed to operate from 7am to 2pm. These restrictions are currently in place till 6am on May 13.

Underlining that the ongoing partial lockdown was showing results by way of decline in new cases, chief minister Hemant Soren on Tuesday said it was time to implement stricter measures to further curb the spread of Covid-19 in the state.

“We are assessing all aspects for imposing restrictions, including marriage functions," Soren said.

The state has been under lockdown since April 22, with varied degree of restrictions in economic activities. “We are assessing all aspects for imposing restrictions, including marriage functions. We are seeing benefits of the current restrictions but it’s time to implement stricter measures. We will take a call soon in this regard after a meeting,” said Soren during an online webinar with MPs and MLAs from Kolhan and South Chhotanagpur on Tuesday to seek their suggestions in battling the pandemic.

Since April 29, the state is under lock and key, with only essential services allowed to operate from 7am to 2pm. These restrictions are currently in place till 6am on May 13. Social gatherings such as for weddings and cremations are allowed with attendance of 50 and 20 people, respectively.

While the state was seeing plateauing of the Covid-19 curve, several elected representatives on Tuesday demanded complete ban on marriage functions. “In my suggestion, there is a need to ban marriage functions for a while. If you can’t ban it, atleast make it a rule that only those with negative RT-PCR report will be allowed to attend the function,” said Seraikela legislator and transport minister Champak Soren.

Apart from positive cases, the state was also witnessing a continuous rise in number of Covid-19 deaths since early April. It reported 38, 141, 317, 786 and 951 deaths in the weeks of April 1-7, April 8-14, April 15-21, April 22-28 and April 29- May 5, respectively.

According to the health department’s Covid-19 bulletin of May 10, the state has so far reported around 4,000 deaths and 292,530 cases, including 5,7902 active cases.