Bhubaneswar: In the wake of the recent surge in Covid cases, the state government will issue a special advisory for devotees ahead of this year’s Ratha Jatra at Odisha’s Puri town.

In an apparent attempt to keep the infectious disease under control, the Health Department of the state government has advised the devotees having Covid-like symptoms not to visit Puri during the aannual festival.

Similarly, elderly people as well as people having comorbidities have been advised not to take part in this year’s Ratha Jatra at Puri.

“The devotees should use facemasks and ensure proper hand sanitization during the Ratha Jatra of Lord Jagannath at the Holy Town,” said Director of Health Services in Odisha, Amarendra Nath Mohanty.

The Health Department is taking steps to re-operationalize the ICUs set up during the Covid-19 pandemic at Puri ahead of the Car Festival, he added.

“Additional beds have been arranged at Puri District Headquarters Hospital (DHH). Besides, more doctors have been deployed at the health facility. Steps have been taken to ensure adequate number of health staff as well as equipment at the DHH. The Health Department Secretary has recently visited the hospital and inspected the arrangements,” Mohanty said.