Keeping in view the coronavirus scare, Odisha government has decided to extend the lockdown until April 30, becoming the first state to extend the lockdown which is scheduled to end on 14th April. Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik has requested the central government not to start train and air services till April 30. He has also said that all educational institutions will remain shut till June 17.
Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik has requested the Centre not to start train and air services till April 30th; Educational institutions in the state to remain closed till June 17th. https://t.co/z5R4a8Cyap
— ANI (@ANI) April 9, 2020
Odisha TV has quoted CM Naveen Patnaik as saying: “During the ongoing lockdown period amid COVID-19 crisis, your discipline and sacrifice have provided us the strength to fight coronavirus. We have decided to extend the lockdown period in Odisha till April 30, said CM Naveen Patnaik”.
BREAKING: During ongoing lockdown period amid #COVID19 crisis, your discipline & sacrifice has provided us the strength to fight #coronavirus. We have decided to extend the lockdown period in #Odisha till April 30: CM Naveen Patnaik#COVID19Pandemic #COVID2019india #Covid19India pic.twitter.com/ZJStlDGel7
— OTV (@otvnews) April 9, 2020
Whether to extend the 21-day national lockdown after it ends on 14th will be decided after a meeting of Prime Minister Modi with all the Chief Ministers through video conferencing on 11th April. Several states have requested to extend the lockdown, while some others have favoured a limited lockdown after 14th April. The PM is expected to announce a decision after the meeting and before the current lockdown ends.
On April 4, after witnessing the largest single-day increase in the state, the Jajpur administration in Odisha had announced a total shutdown, akin to curfew, in Odisha’s Jajpur and all block headquarters of the district for 48 hours from 8 PM tonight to 8 PM of April 6 as a precautionary measure to prevent community transmission of the COVID-19 after a Muslim cleric who had visited the Tablighi Jamaat event in Delhi’s Nizamuddin tested positive on Friday.
Since two other cases in Odisha reported on April 4, were also attendees of Tablighi Jamaat, hailing from Cuttack and Bhadrak respectively, the Odisha government has also announced a curfew-like shutdown in Cuttack, Bhubaneswar and Bhadrak on Friday to prevent community transmission of Coronavirus.
It was then said that the 48-hour curfew-like shutdown order under the Disaster Management Act was issued to prevent community transmission of the highly infectious coronavirus disease.
The state government of Odisha led by CM Naveen Patnaik has been proactive in its approach to tackle the crisis and was one of the first states to announce a complete lockdown.
As on April 9, 2020, Odisha has reported a total of 42 coronavirus positive cases with one person succumbing to the infection. Two people have been cured so far.
