Puri, Jan 31 (PTI) Ahead of the Shree Jagannath Temple reopening its doors to the people on February 1, its administration on Monday categorically said that devotees flouting the mandatory mask wearing norm to avoid the spread of COVID-19 may be denied entry into the shrine.

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It is mandatory for all pilgrims to wear masks at all times, both inside and outside the temple, the standard operating procedure issued by the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) said.

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The SOP said people flouting the norms will be fined and may be refused entry to the temple, which will reopen its doors for the devotees after remaining closed since January 10 in the wake of the resurgence of COVID-19.

Devotees can enter the temple for darshan from 6 am to 9 pm on all days when it is open for public darshan. The temple will remain closed to the general people on all Sundays in order to sanitize the premises as a measure to contain the spread of coronavirus disease.

All devotees wil be required to bring their photo ID cards, like Aadhaar/voter ID or any other photo ID card for identification, along with final certificate for COVID-19 vaccination or negative certificate of RT-PCR done within 96 hours prior to their visit to the temple.

The restriction on COVID-19 certification will remain in force until February 17, 2022, the SOP said.

The norms will be reviewed again before the expiry of the date and a revised instruction, if required, will be issued keeping in view the then prevailing COVID situation, SJTA chief administrator Krishna Kumar said.

According to the SOP, devotees are required to sanitize their hands before entering the temple and that there should be strict enforcement of COVID appropriate behavior by all concerned like maintaining physical distance at all times as per the guidelines.

SJTA has set up a camp for administering precaution dose vaccination for sevayats who are between the age group of 18 to 60 years. Efforts will to be made to ensure that all eligible sevayats are given the vaccine in due time in view their health.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)