Berhampur: The Silk City witnessed a heavy rush after lifting up the COVID-19 restrictions on Monday.
The entry and exit points to the city have been opened and the timings for the opening of shops increased by four hours (5 am to 8 pm instead of 5 am to 4 pm).
Collector Ganjam Vijay Amrit Kulange, who discussed the COVID management issues with the officers of the district through video conferencing, stressed the need for keeping surveillance on the movement of the rural people through ‘Gramya Committee’.
“Keeping a close eye on the movement of the people and implementation of the 5-point formula by the shopkeepers will help to check the spread of the virus,” the collector said.
He further said that the relaxation in restrictions would not be applicable to the containment zones. The entry points of the district would remain sealed as before and the weekend shutdown on Saturday and Sunday would continue in the entire district, including Berhampur.
“The zero process would continue in the active case areas. Zero positive villages would be declared as Green Zone. Data would be collected from the people under home isolation as usual. The people under home isolation having diabetic would be shifted to COVID hospitals,” he added.
Noatbly, the Berhampur Municipal Corporation (BeMC) had restricted movements of people and vehicles and sealed its limits on July 14. The decision was taken as residents thronged markets and shops in the city, throwing caution to the wind, during a five-day shutdown.
On August 22, BeMC commissioner Chakravorty Singh Rathore said the people from outside having assignment can enter Berhampur wearing masks. The shopkeepers and the customers must maintain social distance. The squads of BeMC and the Berhampur sub-collector office would intensify the raids in the city to enforce the COVID-19 regulations like wearing the face masks and maintaining the social distance, he added.
