Guwahati: The Assam Government has issued an order instructing all the schools to halt their physical classes for students till Class 8 in Guwahati.
While in the other districts of Assam, classes will remain shut for students up to Class 5 from 8 January with immediate effect.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma himself announced the decision to suspend classes up to 8th standard in Kamrup Metropolitan district and up to 5th standard in other districts of Assam.
He also added that the suspension will be in place from 8 January to 30 January.
The CM further went on to say that classes from 9 to 11 will be conducted offline on rotational basis.
The schools will be closed but online classes will carry on for these students.
The decision to suspend classes comes in the wake of a sudden rise in the number of Covid-19 positive cases in the state.
The active covid cases in the the state is clocked at 7707. To make matters worse, the latest omicron variant has also managed to infiltrate the state with the omicron tally standing at 9 as of now.
As a result, the state government has issued a revised Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) which will be in effect from 7 January onwards.
As per the latest SOP, the night curfew timings have been changed to 10:00 PM to 6:00 AM as a preventive measure to contain the rising number of COVID-19 cases.
All the shops and other business establishments have also been advised to close down by 9:00 pm.
The new SOP's also include the restrictions on public gatherings along with the mandatory use of face masks.
Meanwhile, the entire nation is facing a surge in covid cases and several states have also re-imposed lockdowns.
Some experts have warned of an incoming third wave in the country thereby ringing alarm bells.
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