Bhubaneswar: All the religious institutions will remain closed for the public from December 31, 2021, to January 2, 2022, within Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) jurisdiction to protect the health of the public and prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus across the State.
Reportedly, the religious institutions include temples, mosques, gurudwaras, churches, etc.
The decision has been taken after the newly detected highly contagious OMICRON variant due to the congregation of a large number of citizens.
However, the usual rituals of the religious institutions by the priests / sevayats, etc. will continue to be performed without any public participation.
On the other hand, Pathani Samanta Planetarium in Bhubaneswar and Burla planetarium in Sambalpur will also remain closed for tourists from December 31 to January 2, 2022, amid Omicron scare in the State.
It is to be noted that the Director of the Institute of Life Sciences (ILS), Bhubaneswar informed about five more Omicron variant of Covid cases that have been detected in Odisha taking the total tally to 14.
Meanwhile, the State today reported 221 Covid-19 positive cases including 34 in the 0-18 years age group, informed the Information & Public Relations (I&PR) Department.
Ms Kalinga