State under ‘complete’ lockdown this weekend
The total lockdown will begin at 4 pm on Saturday and will conclude on Monday morning; Swasthya Suraksha Saptah extended till June 17 morning with a few more relaxations
RANCHI: The Hemant Soren government on Wednesday announced “complete lockdown” for 38 hours in the state, that will begin from 4pm on Saturday and conclude at 6am on Monday.
All shops, including fruits, vegetable, grocery and sweets, will remain closed during the said hours. However, shops selling medicines and medical equipment, petrol pumps, and LPG outlets will remain open, officials said.
The decision was taken at a state disaster management authority (SDMA) meeting chaired by chief minister Hemant Soren.
The government has also extended the ongoing Swasthya Suraksha Saptah (health protection week) for another week till June 17 morning with few more relaxations. The current weeklong lockdown ends at 6am on Thursday.
All kinds of shops, including salons, have been permitted to reopen in 23 districts under the weeklong lockdown, excluding in East Singhbhum district, where a sudden surge in positive cases was found on Tuesday.
Garment, cloth, footwear, cosmetic and jewellery shops will remain closed in East Singhbhum district, which recorded 348 cases and five deaths in a day on Tuesday, becoming a major concern for the government, officials said.
Shops will now open till 4pm in all districts. Earlier, they were only allowed to remain open till 2pm. Trade bodies have been demanding extension of hours due to low turnout of buyers.
Last week, all kinds of shops in 15 districts, where Covid-19 cases were comparatively lower, were allowed to reopen. Barring few such as garment, footwear, cosmetic and jewellery, all other kinds of shops were also allowed to reopen in the rest nine districts- Bokaro, Dhanbad, Jamshedpur, Deoghar, Ranchi, Hazaribagh, Garhwa, Gumla and Ramgarh, as cases were higher in these districts.
State disaster management minister Banna Gupta said, “We have been successful in breaking the chain of coronavirus. So, we will continue our efforts. In this regard, we have decided to go for complete lockdown from 4pm on Saturday till 6am on Monday.”
He said the government has also decided to speed up Covid-19 testing at railway stations, airport and places of public gatherings. “We are concerned about the sudden rise in Covid-19 cases in East Singhbhum. Therefore, restrictions on garment, footwear, cosmetic and jewellery shops there will remain in place,” he said.
The minister said, “In a bid to boost up economy and livelihood, relaxations are being given in a phased manner.”
However, shopping malls, movie hall, multiplexes, theatres, assembly halls, banquet halls, bars, clubs, department stores selling multiple categories of products will continue to remain closed, according to the government order. All educational institutions, including schools, colleges, IT, skill development, coaching institutions and training institutions will also remain closed.
All government and private offices have been permitted to function with one-third manpower till 4pm.
Besides, the provision of e-pass, which was withdrawn for intra-district movement, is required for interdistrict and interstate movement. The SDMA officials said restriction on bus movement will remain in effect.
Lockdown-like restrictions have been in place in Jharkhand since April 22.