Hemant Soren appealed to people to stay at home, venture out only when it's necessary (File)
Jharkhand will go into a seven-day lockdown from April 22 to check the spread of Coronavirus, Chief Minister Hemant Soren announced today.
The decision to enforce the lockdown - from April 22 to April 29 - was taken at a high-level meeting chaired by the Chief Minister. The said period will be observed as "health safety week".
The offices of central government, state government and also those in private sector have been exempted from the total shutdown while others will remain shut, Chief Minister Soren said in a statement.
Religious places will remain open, but only a fixed number of devotees will be allowed, said the Chief Minister.
The Chief Minister also appealed to the people to stay at home and venture out only when it's necessary.
Agriculture, industries and mining operations will function during the period of shutdown.
Curfew under section 144, which prohibits assembly of five or more people, will be in place across the state.
Elaborate details regarding the curbs will be issued later in the evening, said the Chief Minister.
Jharkhand too, like other parts of the country, is witnessing a spike in cases amid a virulent second wave of COVID sweeping the nation.
As per the last health bulletin, Jharkhand had a total of 1,33,479 positive cases, while 1456 patients have lost their lives.
There are 28,010 active cases in the state.