Odisha govt imposes 'weekend shutdown' in 11 districts in June, educational institutions closed till July 31

Bhubaneswar (Odisha) [India], June 4 (ANI): The Odisha government has imposed 'weekend shutdown' in the month of June in the districts of Ganjam, Puri, Nayagarh, Khorda, Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapada, Jajpur, Bhadrak, Balasore and Balangir with relaxation only for emergency and public services.
All schools, colleges, educational institutions, training institutions/coaching centres shall remain closed till July 31 in the view of the coronavirus outbreak.
"'Weekend Shutdown' has been imposed by Government on all Saturdays and Sundays during the month of June 2020 in the Districts of Ganjam, Puri, Nayagarh, Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapada, Jajpur, Bhadrak, Balasore and Balangir with relaxation for only emergency and public services," an official release by Information & Public Relations Department, Odisha said.
"All Government Offices in the above 11 Districts shall remain closed on 06-07th, 13-14th, 20-21st and 27-28th June 2020. However, essential and emergency services such as Medical, Police, Fire, Telecom, Sanitation (Municipal) shall not be restricted," it said.
The department said that essential administrative functions will also be unrestricted and concerned employees may carry along official ID so as to facilitate verification by police.
"In order to fight against COVID-I9 spike, all the Schools/ College, Educational Institutions, Training Institutions/ Coaching Centres shall remain closed till 31st July. But the examinations will be held as scheduled at all places except those declared as Containment Zones. Order has been issued to this effect by Special Relief Commissioner," read the release.
The Odisha government in coordination with private flight service 'Air Asia' has facilitated the safe return of about 300 migrants to Bhubaneswar from Imphal and Guwahati by two charter flights today as part of 'Umeed Ki Udaan' initiative.
"A special flight from Manipur carrying 138 migrant Odias, mostly labourers and students, has landed at Biju Patnaik International Airport today afternoon. All of them have been sent to Kendrapara by bus and all of them will undergo stipulated institutional quarantine," read the release.
All the Public Parks of Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC), Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) and Bhubaneswar Smart City Ltd. (BSCL) within the jurisdiction of Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation area will be opened in all days except during shutdown days on Saturdays and Sundays of June 2020 from 5 AM to 10 AM in the morning and from 4 PM to 6 PM in the evening.
"The park timing slot of 5 AM to 7 AM will be exclusively for the elderly age group citizens of 60 years old and above. During this time other age group people are not allowed. Similarly, elderly citizens of above 60 years and above will not be allowed inside the parks beyond their allotted slot time. An order to this effect has been issued by Commissioner, BMC," the release said.
The department informed that 16,760 temporary medical centres/camps have been readied in 6,798 Gram Panchayats of the State.
"In all these Centres, total no. of 7,57,263 beds have been arranged to provide COVID-19 health services in rural areas," it said.
1,62,891 samples have been tested till June 2 in which 2,388 people tested COVID-19 positive. In Odisha, there are 963 active cases, 1,416 people have recovered/discharged and 7 deaths while 1,326 are in hospital isolation. (ANI)