E-Paper
Odisha bans congregations amid a surge in Covid-19 cases
The government said religious rituals in churches, temples, places of worship will continue as usual with a limited number of persons with strict adherence to Covid protocols.
Amid a surge in Covid-19 cases, the Odisha government on Friday banned congregations including for the celebration of upcoming festivals like Good Friday, Easter, Pana Sankranti, Jhamu Jatra, Danda Jatra and Ram Navami.
“Religious rituals in churches, temples, places of worship will continue as usual with a limited number of persons with strict adherence to Covid protocols,” said a government notification.
The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) has separately made it mandatory for travellers from states with higher Covid-19 cases to undergo mandatory testing or produce Covid-19 negative reports.
The state health department has also cautioned against the possible congregation of lawyers during elections to Bar associations on Saturday.
Additional chief secretary Pradipta Kumar Mohapatra has written to all the district collectors, police chiefs and municipal commissioners and asked them to enforce the Covid-19 norms and prevent congregations during campaign and polls.
The health department is also all set to roll out a plan of vaccinating a minimum of 10 million people, or around 25% of the total population. The state would also vaccinate all utility service providers.
Mohapatra said over two million vaccinations have been carried out till Thursday. He added they plan to vaccinate 15,00,00 people daily. He added Odisha has informed the Centre that the “insufficient and erratic” supply of the Covid-19 vaccines was hampering the vaccination programme.
