Religious places, malls, hotels to remain closed in Odisha till June 30

All religious places, shopping malls, hotels and restaurants will continue to remain closed in Odisha till June 30 in view of the COVID-19 scenario, the state government has said in a notification.

Most states are set to reopen such public spots from Monday after a gap of over two months, as the country prepares for a calibrated exit from the coronavirus-induced lockdown by easing more restrictions in the non-containment zones.

The Odisha government, in a clarification issued late on Sunday, said the Centre has mentioned that the states, based on their assessment of the COVID-19 situation, are authorised to prohibit certain activities outside the containment zones or impose such restrictions as deemed necessary.

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"The order issued by the state government is valid till June 30 and shall be strictly implemented," an official said.

Home delivery from hotels and restaurants, including food aggregator services, are allowed, the notification said.

The Union Culture Ministry has approved the opening of 820 centrally-protected monuments under the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), including 46 religious places in Odisha, from Monday.

However, the fresh notification issued by the state government said religious places will remain shut till June 30. Shree Jagannath Temple Administration chief administrator Krishna Kumar had last week made it clear that the shrine will remain out of bounds for devotees till July 5.

With a spike in the number of COVID-19 cases since the beginning of June, the Odisha government had imposed a weekend shutdown in 11 vulnerable districts and night curfew across the state from 7 pm to 5 am till the month-end.

As many as 138 more people tested positive for COVID-19 in Odisha, taking the total number of coronavirus cases in the state to 2,994, officials said on Monday. Nine persons have died due to the contagion in the state.