The Odisha government has decided to impose night curfew in 10 districts of the state from Monday and is mulling to impose day curfew following the sudden spike in Covid-19 cases. For the last three days, Odisha has reported more than 400 Covid positive cases per day.

All shops, commercial establishments, offices, institutions and movement of individuals shall remain closed or prohibited between 10pm and 5am. The districts where night curfew will be imposed are Sundergarh, Jharsuguda, Sambalpur, Bargarh, Bolangir, Nuapada, Kalahandi, Nabarangpur, Koraput and Malkangiri.

Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Sunday sealed the main branch of the State Bank of India (SBI) here after seven of its employees were diagnosed with Covid-19. The bank will be sealed for 48 hours and will only be opened for public use after proper sanitisation of its premises and Covid test of all its employees.

“The SBI main branch is sealed for the next 48 hours from April 4 to April 7 after its seven staffs were found positive for Covid-19,” said BCM commissioner P.C. Chaudhury, adding the BMC will go for sanitisation, contract tracing and testing at the bank.

The BMC will conduct sanitisation, contact tracing and testing at the bank during these two days, he added. Earlier, the BMC had sealed a shopping mall at Unit-II Market building on charges of violation of Covid guidelines.

Taking into account the sudden surge in Covid-19 cases, the Puri Shree Jagannath Temple was closed on Sunday for devotees to carry out the necessary disinfection drive. Henceforth, on every Sunday the temple will be closed for devotees for the purpose of carrying out the sanitisation process.

As the number of Covid cases are going up, the state government is mulling to impose curfew even during the daytime. Odisha Legislative Assembly Speaker Surjya Naryan Patro on Sunday gave a hint of this.

“Chief minister is reviewing the Covid-19 situation. Seeing the rise in cases, a decision to impose curfew in day time may be taken in next four to five days,” said Patro.

Meanwhile, the number of Covid-19 cases for the third consecutive day crossed the 400 mark in the state. While on Sunday 471 Covid cases were reported in the state, it had witnessed 452 cases on Saturday and 461 cases on Friday.