A 14-day complete lockdown will be enforced in Kamrup (Metro) district, of which Guwahati city is a part, from June 28 midnight following a spurt in Coronavirus cases, said Assam Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Friday.
Addressing a press briefing, he further said that a 12-hour night curfew will be imposed across the state from 7 pm onward from Friday.
The state is going with a very strict curfew this time as no grocery shops will be allowed to open or supply of vegetables and other essentials will be permitted for the first seven days. Only medical stores will remain open, the minister informed.
“We are now left with no choice but to impose a complete lockdown for 14 days from June 28 midnight,” Himanta Biswa Sarma said.
The government will enforce a complete lockdown in other towns and municipal areas on weekends from June 27 every week till the COVID-19 outbreak is arrested.
Areas falling under the jurisdiction of town committees and municipalities will come under the ambit of the weekend lockdown and will continue until further notice, the minister said.
The state government will review the lockdown situation in Guwahati after seven days from the enforcement of the restrictions, he added.
The decision has been taken after Guwahati, the gateway to the northeast region, has reported 762 coronavirus cases since June 15, and 677 of them have no travel history, though many had come in contact with those returned to the state from outside.
Of the 276 cases reported in the state on Thursday, 133 were from Guwahati, the minister told reporters.
Assam has so far reported 6,646 Coronavirus cases.
The number of active cases is 2,601, while 4,033 people have recovered from the deadly infection.
Nine people have died of the disease and three have migrated to other states.
Earlier on Thursday, the state health minister had tweeted, “It is the policy of aggressive testing and tracing that has kept us in control of things and I must express my gratitude to all for the spirited support. Determined to defeat Corona”.
The Assam government had on Tuesday imposed a 14-day total lockdown in 11 municipal ward areas of Guwahati to control the spread of the Coronavirus infection among people of certain parts of the city.