Odisha announces additional COVID curbs, shuts colleges, varsities from January 10

The authorities of colleges, universities and technical education institutions will have to take all appropriate measures for conducting online classes, the order by Odisha govt said.

Bhubaneswar: All colleges, universities and technical education institutions in Odisha will remain closed from January 10 in view of the rising COVID-19 cases, as per an official order issued on Friday.

Schools in the state have already been shut till January-end. However, medical colleges, nursing colleges and institutions under the Health Department will continue to remain open, the order issued by the Special Relief Commissioner's office said.

The order will be in effect till February 1, it said. The order was issued to contain the spread of the coronavirus, it added.

The authorities of colleges, universities and technical education institutions will have to take all appropriate measures for conducting online classes, it said.

All hostels in such academic institutions will also remain closed and the students will be advised to avoid staying in the hostels in the interest of their personal health, it added.

Scholars, researchers and students who desire to stay in hostels for research and project works or other academic activities may be permitted to do so by providing an undertaking, the order said.

However, all ongoing offline examinations will be allowed to continue as per the schedule by complying with COVID-19 guidelines, it said.

All teaching and non-teaching employees will work as per the prevailing guidelines for government employees and perform duty as assigned to them by the respective authorities, the order said.

Coaching institutions, organisations and individuals offering tuition will also stop taking offline classes, it said.

Any person found violating the order will be punished under the provision of the Disaster Management Act,2005 and other relevant laws, it said.

AIIMS-Bhubaneswar also suspended all offline classes from January 10 till further instructions. "All classes will be held online only," it added.

Several educational institutions in Odisha have reported detection of large number of COVID-19 cases on their campuses.