India News | Only 50 People to Be Allowed at Marriage Functions, Funerals in Bhubaneswar: BMC

Bhubaneswar, Oct 4 (PTI) In a bid to contain the spread of COVID-19 during the ensuing winter season, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) Monday capped the number of guests attending marriage ceremonies, funerals, and other functions in the state capital at 50, a notification said.

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Earlier, the ceiling was 250 for the entire state.

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The state government, however, has permitted the other areas of Odisha to continue with the maximum number of 250 attendees in such gatherings.

The civic body imposed the fresh restriction based on the power entrusted to it by the state government to either relax or restrict norms keeping in view the local situation.

Though there has been a sharp decline in the number of new COVID-19 cases in the districts, Bhubaneswar Monday reported 118 fresh cases, an official said.

As many as 1,13,488 people in the state capital have thus far contracted the disease of whom 1,026 died during the pandemic.

“To protect the health of the public and preventing the spread of COVID-19 during the ensuing winter season, it is decided that the total number of persons allowed in functions related to marriage, death rituals, thread ceremonies will be 50 within BMC limit,” the civic body said in the notification.

It will be the joint responsibility of the host of the function and the management of the convention halls and marriage venues to adhere to the guidelines.

Licence for the functions must be obtained from the BMC, and people with COVID-like symptoms shall not be allowed to enter the venues, it said.

Such individuals should also be excluded from funeral-related gatherings, as much as possible.

Elderly people, pregnant women, children under the age of 10 years, and those with other comorbidities are also advised not to attend these functions, it said.

The host of the function shall ensure thermal screening of all participants at the entrance of the venue, the notification said.

(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)