This story is from July 3, 2020

Odisha: Four more districts opt for weekend shutdowns

While the state government has decided to impose weekend shutdowns in July in 10 districts having more than 50 active positive cases, the administrations of four other districts — Bargarh, Balangir, Kendrapada and Dhenkanal — also decided to replicate the move.
Odisha: Four more districts opt for weekend shutdowns
SAMBALPUR/ANGUL/BALANGIR: While the state government has decided to impose weekend shutdowns in July in 10 districts having more than 50 active positive cases, the administrations of four other districts — Bargarh, Balangir, Kendrapada and Dhenkanal — also decided to replicate the move.
Only emergency services will be provided in the four districts on weekends.
The government had earlier imposed weekend shutdowns in Ganjam, Gajapati, Khurda, Cuttack, Jajpur, Jagatsinghpur, Balasore, Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar and Jharsuguda, clubbing them as Zone I.
In Bargarh, the weekend shutdowns will be imposed in urban areas, including Bargarh municipality, Attabira Notified Area Council, Barpali NAC, Bijepur NAC and Padampur NAC. “After assessment of the situation, we found there was a need to create awareness among people. Hence, we have decided to enforce the weekend shutdown in urban areas of the district,” said Bargarh collector Jyotiranjan Pradhan.
The district reported one positive case on Thursday. The total number of cases in Bargarh is 110 as of Thursday. Of them, 57 people have already recovered, one person has died and 52 are active cases still.
Sources said the new Covid-19 case, which has been reported from Attabira NAC, is a 50-year-old woman. The district administration has declared a 100-metre area around her house as a containment zone.
An official said Katapali village had emerged as the Covid-19 hotspot in the district. Of the 110 cases in Bargarh, 53 are from Katapali. The district administration has collected swabs of 1,458 people from the village.

In Balangir, too, all business establishments, private offices and movement of public transport except emergency services will be restricted on weekends this month. The order came after the district reported 20 new cases within a week. All 20 patients are reported to have contracted the virus from local sources. Of them, 19 are from the slum locality of Hatisalpara in the municipality region, while one case was reported from Jamsar village.
The Balangir district administration also directed the closure of all tea, betel nut and soft drink stalls and roadside eateries and hotels in Balangir town from Friday.
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