Guwahati: The district administration of West Kameng district in Arunachal Pradesh has opted for a 5-day complete lockdown in the Bomdila township and adjoining villages of Sera and Pedung due to a continuing surge in the number of COVID-19 cases. This latest lockdown in the frontier state shall be effected from 2 PM of August 27 to midnight of August 31.
Passing the order, Sang Khandu, the Additional Deputy Commissioner of West Kameng district said that the lockdown has been necessitated by the sharp surge in the number of coronavirus cases in the region, where the "positive cases have been increasing on daily basis at an average of 3-4 cases per day."
Khandu stated that "tracking of primary contact is becoming difficult with the everyday movement of people and more people coming in primary contacts and thereby exponentially increasing the number of primary and secondary contacts."
For the duration of the lockdown, several restrictions shall be imposed in addition to the already-existing guidelines that are in effect to arrest the spread of the contagion.
The movement of persons and vehicles will be restricted during the lockdown except for the purchase of essential commodities and medical emergencies. However, the BCT road passing through Bomdila Township will remain open for all the inter-district movement including the army, para-military, and BRTF without any stoppage within the Bomdila Township.
As per the rules, only the shops selling essential commodities will be open from 10:00 AM in the morning to 12:00 PM in the afternoon.
"The shopkeepers should ensure that all the SOPs are followed by the customers during the visit to shops for purchase of essential items," the notification read.
All government offices, except the 'essential' ones, shall be run with a capacity of 30% strength.
Only the vehicles issued "special" passes by the district administration for "essential activities" shall be allowed to ply on the roads during the lockdown period, stated that communique.