State Chief Minister Hemant Soren has convened a meeting on Monday to discuss the situation emerging from increasing Covid-19 cases in the State and the impact of the new strain of the contagion—the Omicron variant.
The Chief Minister has called a meeting on disaster management along with seeking feedback and suggestions from different departments on how to tackle the new strain of pandemic. The Chief Minister Soren in his tweet message has also appealed to people not to pay attention to rumors. The Chief Minister has also asked people to follow all Covid protocols, appealing people to wear masks, taking special care and attention of elderly people and children. The CM meeting will be held at Project Bhawan from 4 pm onwards in which a decision on the nature of lockdown to be introduced in the State will also be discussed.
In the meeting, special discussion will be held on protecting children and youth below 18 years of age from infection. For this, a decision can be taken to close the educational institutions immediately. Apart from this, a decision will also be taken after considering controlling the number of people in public places including offices.
Meanwhile, sources said that with the rise in corona cases across Jharkhand, the State Health department has suggested Home, Jail and Disaster Management department to bring fresh restrictions so as to check the spread of infections. The health department has suggested closing down all educational institutions including schools, colleges, coaching institutes, hotels and restaurants. The health department letter also suggested closing of all public parks, sports complexes, swimming pools, gyms, indoor stadiums etc by January 15.
The health department has also suggested prohibition of large gatherings at religious places and ban on organizing fairs. The health department has also recommended a ban on the participation of more than 50 people in marriage ceremonies, 50 per cent attendance in all offices and stop biometric attendance till further orders. It has also been said that it has also been recommended to close the mall, or if opened than entry of people only who had taken both the doses of vaccines. Also, at malls the capacity should be only 25 percent of the people.
The health department also recommended shops falling under the category of essential commodities should open on alternative days and be allowed to open only till 5 pm. RT PCR negative report should be made mandatory for people coming from other states or the country by any means, which is within a maximum of 72 hours.
The health department has also suggested imposing night curfew as cases are increasing day by day, with the closing of all shops and business establishments on Sunday. Wearing of masks should be made mandatory for all people except children below five years of age.