In the light of the massive surge in COVID-19 cases, the Odisha government has imposed night curfew from 9 pm to 5 am, starting today till February 1 in all urban areas of the State.
Earlier, the night curfew restrictions were imposed from 10 pm to 5 am . But in a bid to check the spread of COVID-19 in the State, the Special Relief Commissioner revised the timings to 9 pm-5 am, along with other restrictions.
Though gatherings will be prohibited during the night curfew, some exemptions have been granted. Here are the details about what’s allowed and not allowed during the night curfew:
Restrictions:
• There shall be no movement of vehicles except for exigencies on production of proper evidence.
• During the Night curfew, all the shops and malls shall remain open across the State from 5 am to 9 pm every day.
Exemptions:
• District and Municipal Administration/ Police/ Government Officials on duty
• Doctors, Medical/ Paramedical Staff (Govt. & Private), ambulances and emergency health staff
• Emergency workers of utilities such as Electricity, Fire Services, Telecom, Water Supply, Railways and Airport
• Print and Electronic Media identified by Commissionerate/ District Police
• Movement of Public Transport, private vehicles and taxis (including cabs by aggregators like Ola, Uber, etc.) to and from airports, railway station and bus terminals/ stands/ stops, for facilitating movement of passengers by air, rail and road
• Staff of IT & ITeS companies on production of their ID cards
• Any person, in case of medical or other emergency
• Owner/ staff of Chemist shops
• All industrial units
• All construction activities
• Early Warning Agencies including IMO
• Disaster Management establishments
• No restrictions shall apply to COVID testing and vaccination centres and movement of persons/ vehicles for COVID testing and vaccination shall be allowed
• All Government & Private offices/ establishments dealing with essential services/ utility providers like power, telecommunication, water supply, Police, Municipal Services, Railways/ Airport/ Port services and Security etc. shall remain functional
• All commercial establishments including essential items, food and vegetable shops, excluding all medicine/ pharmaceuticals/ medical devices/optical shops etc. shall remain closed
• Operation of hotels and hospitality units, including their associated offices, movement of staff and associated personnel
• Dhabas along National and State Highways/ Major roads for takeaway only
• Petrol pumps and CNG Stations
• LPG distribution, home delivery of cooking gas and associated facilities, personnel and vehicular movement
• Home Delivery of food, groceries, vegetables, egg, fish, meat, milk and other essential items by restaurants and aggregators such as Zomato, Swiggy, OPOLFED, OMFED, Chilika Fresh etc.
Other Restrictions:
Several other restrictions will also come into effect from today like a maximum of 100 people in government official meeting or training programme, cinema halls to run with 50 per cent capacity, not more than 1000 spectators for Jatra and open-air theatres, and not more than 100 guests in marriages and thread ceremonies among others.