The Odisha Government has ordered a complete lockdown of five districts and seven towns from the 22nd of March to the 29th in the wake of the Wuhan Coronavirus pandemic. The lockdown will begin at 7 a.m. on Sunday and continue till 9 p.m. the Sunday after. Only essential items and services will remain open during this period.

#BIGBREAKING : #Odisha Govt announces total #lockdown of five districts and seven towns from 7 am on March 22 to 9 pm of March 29 for #COVID19. Only essential items and services will be open @NewIndianXpress @XpressOdisha — Siba Mohanty (@Siba_TNIE) March 21, 2020

Hospitals, clinics, medical shops, grocery shops, restaurants (only takeaways and home delivery), vegetables, meat and milk shops/bread and bakery, Railways, Bus Stand, Airports and public transport will remain open. Administration, Police, Health, Fire, ODRAF, Electricity, Water, Municipal Services, Banks, ATMs and Petrol Pumps will remain open along with the private establishments that support these services or are linked to the fight against the Wuhan Coronavirus.

The Odisha Government announced that the majority of the 3000 people who have returned from foreign countries belong to the districts of Khurdha, Cuttack, Ganjam, Kendrapada, Angul, the towns of Puri, Rourkela, Sambalpur, Jharsuguda, Balasore, Jajpur Road and Jajpur Town and Bhadrak. Consequently, in the “first phase”, the Government is opting for “near complete lockdown” in these areas.

Source: Siba Mohanty/Twitter

The Odisha Government has emphasized that these are “extraordinary times” where everybody has to contribute to the efforts being made to bring the pandemic under control. The Government stressed the fact that the Police could not enforce it everywhere and hence, the people would have to see it as their own responsibility to protect the lives of themselves and their fellow citizens. The State Government of Odisha also said that “In the last 60 days, the world has changed.”

- Advertisement -

The Wuhan Coronavirus pandemic has already infected nearly 300 citizens of India. Although the numbers aren’t very large in absolute terms yet, an exponential rise in the number of cases has been observed all across the world. This is because unless serious measures are adopted early, the infection tends to spread very quickly due to the highly contagious nature of the virus.