Heavy police presence was witnessed in the twin cities of Cuttack and Bhubaneswar in view of the 48-hour weekend shutdown which began in 11 districts of the State on Saturday.
Police put up barricades and carried out checks at the major intersections of the twin cities and carried out through frisking of vehicles and commuters.
However, all essential services including petrol pumps, medicine shops, healthcare services, drinking water and electricity supply, LPG agencies and ATM counters remained open during the shutdown. The airport and railway stations functioned as usual.
The thoroughfares in the twin cities of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack wore deserted looks as the denizens generally preferred to remain indoors and very few vehicles were on the roads. The situation in other major cities and towns was also the same as people obeyed the Government-imposed restrictions.
Notably, the Government has ordered a complete shutdown of non-essential services to contain and flatten the Covid-19 curve, which has taken a leap following the exodus of migrants from other States.
Earlier, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik in a video message had also appealed to people not to step out of homes unnecessarily and follow the social distancing norm and use facial coverings to stay safe from the virus spread.