The State Government issued fresh guidelines for the month of February with certain relaxation. As per the order released by the Office of State Special Relief Commissioner, the guidelines for January 2022 will remain in force with slight modification.

According to the guidelines, night curfew will be imposed from 10 pm to 5 am every day. Shops, malls, market complexes, cinema halls, swimming pools, entertainment complexes, theatres, auditoriums, assembly halls and similar places will remain open across the State from 5 am to 10 pm every day. During the night curfew, restrictions shall not apply to the permissible activities such as home delivery of food, groceries, vegetables, egg, fish, meat, milk and other essential items by restaurants and aggregators such as Zomato, Swiggy, OPOLFED, OMFED and Chilika Fresh.

Religious congregations and celebrations are strictly prohibited. Festivals like Saraswati Puja and Magha Saptami will be observed during February 2022. Saraswati Puja will be observed with all rituals in temples and religious places sans devotees. The event will be allowed in educational institutions with participation of limited number of students observing Covid appropriate behaviour. However, no Saraswati Puja will be allowed to be celebrated in public places other than schools and colleges.

Magha Mela/Magha Saptami is allowed inside the temple without participation of devotees. Large congregations at river banks and sea shore or near other waterbodies to take dip on the occasion of Magha Saptami.

All offices under the control of Odisha Government, public undertakings/corporations/societies/autonomous bodies will operate with 100% of staff with strict adherence to Covid protocols.

Further, Auditoriums, assembly halls, similar facilities shall be allowed to open up to 50% capacity with due compliance to Covid protocols. Open air theatres, Jatras, operas shall be permitted by the local authorities subject to compliance of Covid-19 safety protocols. Maximum 1,000 persons depending on the size of the ground will be permitted at the venue.

For indoor halls the numbers of spectators shall not exceed 50% of the seating capacity of the hall. Cinema halls, theatres shall be allowed to open with up to 50% of capacity

Marriages, thread ceremony, funerals, last rites and related gatherings shall be allowed with approval from local authorities. The ceiling on the number of persons at such events will be 250 including hosts, guests, priests and catering and other support staff.

Further no social gathering, rallies, orchestras, dances and other cultural programmes shall be permitted. Picnic in parks, nature clubs, beaches and other picnic spots will not be allowed. No educational institutions will organize excursions and picnics till end of the month. Cultural and dance programmes will not be allowed in hotels, parks, malls, convention centres and kalyan mandaps. Annual day celebration and anniversary on the pretext of any reason is also prohibited. Exhibitions, trade fairs, expos, melas, will also remain prohibited. However, official events may be allowed with prior approval of Government.