Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday warned that the government would be forced to impose a complete lockdown in the state if people fail to observe Covid-19 guidelines properly as this is bound to result in a spike in Covid cases.

The chief minister issued the warning while addressing the people of the state and cautioning them against the possible third wave of the pandemic. Coinciding with Naveen’s address, the chief administrator of the Puri Shree Jagannath Temple announced the decision to re-open the famous shrine from August 16.

The chief minister said that scientists have already warned about a third wave of the pandemic and the situation in some of the countries has taken a serious turn. “At this point, there is an urgent need to adhere to Covid guidelines,” said Naveen.

Stating that his government’s focus was on both life and livelihood, Naveen said the state has begun the unlocking process but this does not mean that people should become careless as the threat of a third wave still persists. The state has allowed shops to remain open from 6am-8pm so that livelihood is not affected. However, weekend shutdown continues in three cities — Bhubaneswar, Cuttack and Puri — owing to the high corona caseload. The state during the last 24 hours reported another 1,315 corona positive cases and 66 deaths. So far the state has recorded 6,168 deaths.

While the chief minister was cautioning people and advising them to wear masks and follow social distancing norms, the announcement about the re-opening of the Shree Jagannath Temple was made as part of the unlock process.

Making the announcement the chief administrator of the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA), Dr Krishan Kumar said: “The temple will be open for devotees from August 16. However, only the people of Puri town will be allowed to have ‘darshan’ of the deities for the first five days. As there is a weekend shutdown on August 21 and August 22 (Saturday and Sunday) devotees from other parts of the state will be allowed entry into the shrine from August 23.”

However, devotees entering the shrine will have to produce either their final Covid vaccination certificate or the RTPCR negative report. All the Covid guidelines will be followed inside the shrine and devotees will have to stand in a queue and wait for their turn to enter the temple.

The administration has decided to launch a door-to-door campaign in Puri to ensure that all the servitors, officials of the temple administration have already taken the second dose of vaccines.