Bhubaneswar: Orissa The government on Friday banned all types of celebrations except weddings from December 25 to January 2 to prevent the possible spread of Omicron during the festive season from Christmas to New Year’s.
While no celebrations other than the wedding are permitted, there cannot be receptions and other ancillary events that limit the marriage to rituals only. The government prohibited community feasting during this period. In an order issued by Special Relief Commissioner Pradeep Kumar Jena, it has been said that people can perform the last rites by following the Kovid protocol.
The order states that Christmas will be confined to churches, which will be attended by a maximum of 50 people. The government has already announced no partying in hotels, clubs and restaurants, parks and convention halls to welcome the new year on December 31 or January 1. The government said that strict vigil would be taken to stop the crowd.
“No social gatherings, rallies, orchestras, dances and other cultural events shall be permitted,” the government order said.
The government asked the district and municipal administrations to impose additional restrictions keeping in mind the local needs. Taking lessons from the orders of the government, Jharsuguda district closed the picnic spot during this period. The Maa Tarini Temple Trust in Keonjhar district decided to shut down the famous temple on January 25, 26, 31, January 1 and January 2 to avoid crowds.
Justifying the new restrictions, the government order said that within a few days, the new COVID version B 1.1.529 (Omicron) has raised concerns for the state as it has been detected in Odisha.
The state has so far reported four persons to be infected with the new variant. Samples of three more recent foreign returnees, who have tested positive for Covid-19, are awaiting genome sequencing at the Institute of Life Sciences (ILS).
On Friday, a total of 141 persons tested positive for Covid-19 in Odisha. The state now has 1751 active positive cases. Of them, only 129 are in hospitals while others are under home isolation, a government update said. Two more persons, a female (84) from Balasore and a male (58) from Ganjam succumbed to the viral infection, taking the death toll in the state to 8450.
While no celebrations other than the wedding are permitted, there cannot be receptions and other ancillary events that limit the marriage to rituals only. The government prohibited community feasting during this period. In an order issued by Special Relief Commissioner Pradeep Kumar Jena, it has been said that people can perform the last rites by following the Kovid protocol.
The order states that Christmas will be confined to churches, which will be attended by a maximum of 50 people. The government has already announced no partying in hotels, clubs and restaurants, parks and convention halls to welcome the new year on December 31 or January 1. The government said that strict vigil would be taken to stop the crowd.
“No social gatherings, rallies, orchestras, dances and other cultural events shall be permitted,” the government order said.
The government asked the district and municipal administrations to impose additional restrictions keeping in mind the local needs. Taking lessons from the orders of the government, Jharsuguda district closed the picnic spot during this period. The Maa Tarini Temple Trust in Keonjhar district decided to shut down the famous temple on January 25, 26, 31, January 1 and January 2 to avoid crowds.
Justifying the new restrictions, the government order said that within a few days, the new COVID version B 1.1.529 (Omicron) has raised concerns for the state as it has been detected in Odisha.
The state has so far reported four persons to be infected with the new variant. Samples of three more recent foreign returnees, who have tested positive for Covid-19, are awaiting genome sequencing at the Institute of Life Sciences (ILS).
On Friday, a total of 141 persons tested positive for Covid-19 in Odisha. The state now has 1751 active positive cases. Of them, only 129 are in hospitals while others are under home isolation, a government update said. Two more persons, a female (84) from Balasore and a male (58) from Ganjam succumbed to the viral infection, taking the death toll in the state to 8450.
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