Religious places not to open for now: Jharkhand CM

Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Monday said a decision on opening religious places for the public would only be taken after an order on the final lockdown as the number of COVID-19 cases was rising in the state. He said the gradual process of opening lockdown 5.0 could be reviewed, depending upon the COVID-19 situation.

"Religious places will not be opened now. A decision on opening religious places will only be taken after a decision on the final lockdown," Soren said.

He was speaking to reporters after the government issued a fresh list of relaxations for lockdown 5.0 till June 30. In the fresh guidelines issued on May 30, the Centre allowed opening of religious places or places of worship for the public from June 8 with a limited number of devotees.

Karnataka, West Bengal and many other states have also allowed the shrines to open their doors for the devotees. Jharkhand is witnessing a spike in COVID-19 cases following an influx of migrants. More than 430 of the over 650 coronavirus cases in the state are migrants, who started entering Jharkhand from May 1.