Odisha lifts night curfew as Covid cases drop

The night curfew was in place in all urban areas of the state, including Bhubaneswar, Cuttack and Puri, from 10 pm to 5 am, restricting all non-essential travel.

Odisha withdrew night curfew on Friday as the Covid-19 situation in the state improved, as per an official order.

Night Curfew is lifted from all urban areas of Odisha with effect from 18th February. (Representational Image / PTI)

The night curfew was in place in all urban areas of the state, including Bhubaneswar, Cuttack and Puri, from 10 pm to 5 am, restricting all non-essential travel. It was imposed on January 31 amid a surge in Covid-19 cases.

"Night Curfew is withdrawn/lifted from all urban areas of the State with effect from 18th February, 2022," said the order issued by the Special Relief Commissioner's Office.

"With a continuous decrease in the number of Covid cases in the state, the government decided to further relax the restrictions," an official said.

Odisha reported 671 new Covid-19 cases on Friday, taking the tally to 12,81,455. Among the new patients were 131 children.

The daily positivity rate was 1.14 per cent, while 15 more people died. Two boys, aged three and 13, were among the patients who died in the last 24 hours.

Odisha has so far reported 8,976 deaths.

There are 7,855 active cases in the state at present. Sundergarh district reported the highest number of new cases at 105, followed by Khurda (103) and Jajpur (47).