Will Odisha Lift Weekend Shutdown In Sept Amid Drop In New COVID Cases?

Bhubaneswar: With the July 31 COVID guidelines ending in the next three days, speculation is rife about possible further relaxation in the ongoing partial lockdown norms in Odisha.

Currently, the weekend shutdown is being imposed in three cities – Bhubaneswar, Cuttack and Puri while night curfew starts at 8 pm across the state. The government has allowed for the opening of most facilities with a few restrictions and with strict adherence to the COVID protocols. Religious places are also slowly reopening.

Residents of Bhubaneswar, Cuttack and Puri, however, have to produce a final COVID-19 vaccination certificate for entry into, temples, malls, bars, restaurants, dhabas, cinema halls, theatres, auditoriums and assembly halls.

Also Read: Weekend Shutdown To Continue In 3 Odisha Cities; Malls & Cinema Hall To Reopen With Rider

With experts predicting COVID third wave to hit the country anytime between September and October, the government seems to be keen on adopting caution amid the fall in new cases. The daily caseload has remained below 1000 since August 20.

Khurda, however, continues to be in the Red Zone with over 3000 active cases. The state is also witnessing an increase in the infection rate (12 per cent to 15 per cent) among children and adolescents.

If sources are to be believed weekend shutdown will continue in September and there will not be much change in COVID management guidelines.

The ceiling on guests (25) at weddings and 20 for funerals and thread ceremonies is likely to continue and so also the ban on religious, political and social gatherings, exhibitions and trade fairs.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has extended the existing COVID-19 enforcement of containment measures till September 30 and expressed concern over active cases and high case positivity in some districts. The state governments and union territory administrations have been asked to augment their efforts for effectively checking the transmission of the disease.

REOPENING OF SCHOOLS

No decision has yet been taken for resuming physical classes for Classes I to VIII students.

Two days after a Class VII student fell from a boulder he had climbed on to get a stable internet connection to attend online classes in Rayagada, Odisha State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (OSCPCR) chairperson Sandhyabati Pradhan on August 19 asked the Naveen Patnaik government to resume offline classes for students of classes VI, VII and VIII in a phased manner.

Offline classes are currently being conducted for students of Class IX, X, XI and XII.

READYING FOR 3RD WAVE

On the basis of a Health Ministry’s formula (1.5 times patient load of the second wave), Odisha instead is readying testing, beds, oxygen and drugs to tackle the worst-case scenario of 19,000 daily cases during the peak of the third wave with 23,000 of those hospitalised requiring ICU support.

Plans are afoot to add 30 paediatric units with 1,200 beds, 740 ICU beds, more than 8,000 beds in COVID care centres (245 community health centres of 20 beds each and 551 primary health centres of six beds each) and 28 field hospitals with 1,400 beds (50 each) to reduce dependence on private infrastructure, which it had hired in the first two waves.

The inoculation drive is also being intensified to cover those who missed their second dose of the COVID vaccine, besides, pregnant women and school teachers.