Govt plans norms for micro, mini containment zones

Odisha will go under complete lockdown from May 5 morning till 5 am of May

19 to contain the unprecedented surge in the Covid19 cases in the state.

The decision was announced by the state chief secretary Suresh Chandra Mahapatra on Sunday.

The state had earlier imposed complete weekend shutdowns on Saturdays and Sundays. Prior to that, night curfew was declared in the State from 9 am to 5 am.

Several restrictions will be imposed on the regular activities across the state with several establishments and units remaining shut during the 14-day lockdown.

The chief secretary said that during the lockdown period, buses for public transport will remain closed. He added that intra-state movement of individuals by road, except for medical reasons or for activities will be permitted under the Covid guidelines.

“All educational, training, coaching institutions will remain closed. However, physical conduction 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,” Mohapatra said.

All cinema halls, malls, market complexes, gyms, sports complexes, swimming pools, entertainment parks, theatres, parks, bars and auditoriums, assembly halls, merry-goround

Home ministry will soon come out with detailed guidelines for setting up “micro and mini containment zones” in states which are consistently having a double digit positivity rate. Earlier, this week home ministry had advised states to go in form specific local lockdowns or containments zones where positive rate of Corona patients was high.

Sources said the ministry is in the process of finalising detailed guidelines which will be shared with all the states and Union Territories. The states will be given a free hand to further change or amend these guidelines according to their local requirements.

Some states like Haryana, Delhi, Maharashtra have already announced weekly lockdowns while others have gone for weekend or night curfews. However, there is a growing sense among all states that they will have to go in go for “area specific lockdowns.”

Home ministry has roped in experts from different ministries, particularly the health ministry, to draft a detailed plan which will then be shared with the states.

“These will be like a guide or roadmap for the states so that they have a broad idea of what needs to be done. But they will have the final word on what kind of lockdown they want to put in place keeping in view their local requirements. There are 10 states which are recording a very high positivity rate so some urgent stringent measures have to be taken,”a senior official remarked.

Apart from this, the central control of the home ministry is also assisting the states in organising essential item like oxygen, vaccine, medicines, oxygen concentrators and other essential commodities. Ministry’s teams are working round the clock closely tracking movement of every oxygen tank to ensure that they reach the concerned states well in time.

Special focus is on oxygen shortage in Delhi and all efforts are being made to ensure that the oxygen quota allocated to the Capital by Centre is delivered to it.