Jharkhand’s partial lockdown, or health safety week, has been extended by a week till 6am on June 3, the state government announced on Tuesday night.

The decision was taken after a meeting of the state disaster management authority (SDMA) chaired by chief minister Hemant Soren, a day after he conducted a virtual meeting with all his cabinet ministers. At least four ministers in the 10-member cabinet had demanded for further extension of the lockdown to flatten the covid-19 curve.

An Information Public Relations Department (IPRD) press statement said state secretariats will resume work with 33% attendance and officers above the rank of joint secretary are mandated to come to office daily. The state government also tweaked its e-pass rule by further exempting media, government officials, those working in PSUs, corporate and private factories. “Their i-cards or duty passes will serve as e-pass,” read the order, adding that for all others, an e-pass will remain mandatory for any kind of movement within the district or the state.

As per a detailed notification issued later at night, judicial staff, students appearing for exams, travellers of train/air, and those with medical requirements are also exempted from e-passes. All such people will have to produce i-cards, travel tickets, admit cards and the like if asked by anyone during checking.

Meanwhile, the CM also reviewed the state’s preparedness for cyclone Yaas that is feared to also have a devastating effect in several, namely East Singhbhum, West Singhbhum, Seraikela-Kharsawan, Simdega, Gumla and few others along the borders of Bengal and Orissa.

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the cyclone is expected to hit Balasore in Orissa in the early hours of Wednesday. Disaster management authorities informed the CM about multipronged mitigation plans readied across different districts to tackle the cyclone.

Officials said that while all covid hospitals are readied with back-up plans for uninterrupted oxygen and power supply, shelter homes are set up at different pockets at block levels in high vulnerable zones to house people after evacuation and rescue. Separate quick response teams are also put on alert to coordinate different activities to minimize the impact.

24-hour total lockdown in East Singbhum

East Singhbhum district administration on the other hand has notified a 24-hour total lockdown from 6am on Wednesday till Thursday in view of cyclone Yaas. Notifying it under different sections of Disaster Management Act, 2005, officials said that the decision was taken to minimize damages. “Only people going for medical emergencies, media, and officials engaged in covid and cyclone work are excluded from the one-day total lockdown,” read the order.