Odisha: Bhubaneswar, Bhadrak, Balasore and Jajpur in Red zone

With the third phase of lockdown to contain the spread of Covid-19 beginning from Monday, Odisha government on Sunday classified areas under the jurisdiction of Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) and the districts of Bhadrak, Balasore and Jajpur as "Red Zone".

However, the rest of Khurda district, barring BMC area, will be considered as Orange zone, an official statement said.

The notification issued by Additional Chief Secretary P K Mohapatra said that districts and municipal corporations have been classified into Red, Orange and Green zones based on the guidelines formulated by Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare for the week starting March 4.

Apart from BMC areas where 47 COVID-19 cases have been reported, Bhadrak, Balasore and Jajpur districts have been classified as Red Zones.

Jajpur district has reported the highest number of novel coronavirus cases in the state at 48, followed by Bhubaneswar 47, Balasore 21 and Bhadrak 19.

The government has also classified Sundergarh, Kendrapara, Koraput, Keonjhar, Deogarh, Jharsuguda, Balangir, Dhenkanal, Kalahandi and Ganjam districts as Orange Zones.

Sixteen of the 30 districts in the state enjoy the tag of green zones, official sources said.

With the extension of the lockdown period for a further period of two weeks with effect from Monday new guidelines based on the risk profiling of the districts into Red (Hotspot), Orange and Green zones was done.

In red zones, all malls, market complexes and markets in urban areas will remain closed and plying of cycle rickshaws and auto-rickshaws are prohibited, while intra- district and inter-district plying of buses are not permitted.

Barber shops, spas, and salons will also remain shut during the lockdown period.