Keeping in mind the possible crowd and gatherings at public places on December 31, 2021 and January 1-2, 2022, the Odisha Special Relief Commissioner has warned of stern actions if the Covid 19 guidelines in place were not followed by the people.
As per a notification issued by the SRC, random checking of crowd and gatherings at public places such as picnic spots/ malls/ shopping complexes/ hotels/ clubs/ restaurants/ parks/ convention halls/ kalyan mandaps will be conducted to find out the violators.
Strict enforcement of COVID-19 safety protocols such as wearing of masks, maintaining social distancing of at least six feet between persons at public places will be checked.
Additional restrictions, as may be felt necessary, will be imposed in the interest of containment of the spread of COVID-19, the notification stated.
In case of violation of COVID-19 protocols, heavy penalty will be imposed which will be decided by the local authorities.
The State government has already imposed restrictions for containment of COVID-19 under Disaster Management Act, 2005 and Odisha COVID-19 Regulation, 2020.
It is pertinent to mention here that the SRC had asked the authorities in its earlier notification to enforce Covid restrictions from December 25, 2021 to January 2, 2022. However, after a few hours, the SRC issued a fresh order (No.7458/R&DM(DM) directing the officials to impose curbs only on December 25 and from December 31, 2021, to January 2, 2022.
Here are the restrictions which will be strictly enforced during the days:
No Zero Night celebrations, New Year welcome events in hotels and other public places
Apart from marriage (no reception) and funerals, other social functions banned
Crowding and gathering in public places discouraged
No community feast allowed
No socio-cultural programmes