Keonjhar: The sarpanchs of Dalpaka, Kundula and Khajirapat panchayats under Saharapada block in Keonjhar district Thursday sealed 20 villages for 72 hours after several persons from the villages tested positive for COVID-19.
The three sarapanchs made use of their discretionary power entrusted by the state government to seal the villages in the wake of a rapid surge in cases.
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“The shutdown has been imposed from 12 noon Thursday to 12 noon Saturday in the villages. The entire villages and its adjoining areas have been declared as ‘containment zone’ as a precautionary measure to contain the further spread of COVID-19”, said sarapanchs.
The functioning of all commercial establishments, vehicular movements, non-essential services excluding healthcare and essential services will be restricted during the period.
Besides, the panchayat sarpanchs have urged the villagers to maintain social distance and said that action would be taken against the violators.
It may be mentioned here that with 56 new positive case reported Thursday, the total number of COVID-19 positive cases in Keonjhar district has increased to 992. On the other hand, 289 patients are undergoing treatment in the COVID-19 hospitals while 689 patients have recovered from the disease. 2 COVID-19 patients have succumbed to the virus in the district. However two COVID-19 patients died due to other illness in the district.
PNN