Digboi: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Saturday that the government would decide if lockdown needs to be imposed on places like Guwahati, Dibrugarh and Tinsukia after assessing the COVID situation in these locations over the next 4-5 days.
"Wait for 4-5 days," the Chief Minister told reporters in Digboi in Tinsukia district when asked about the imposition of lockdown in the three locations that have seen a spike in COVID positive cases.
CM Sarma had on Friday told reporters in Guwahati that if the COVID situation does not improve in places like Guwahati, Dibrugarh and Tinsukia then the government might have to impose a lockdown to bring the COVID situation under control. The Chief Minister had said that a total lockdown covering the entire state is not what the government is considering right now.
The government had already introduced strict curbs like curfew from 2 PM every day, closing down educational institutes indefinitely, shutting government, non-government offices and weekly markets till May 27, shutting shops and business establishments by 1 PM and plying of odd-even numbered cars to control the movement of people.
Guwahati and Dibrugarh are topping the list of COVID positive cases. Kamrup Metro that includes Guwahati city has reported 1,107 positive cases followed by 352 cases in Dibrugarh, Kamrup (Rural) reported 323 cases, Nagaon 224 and Tinsukia reported 187 positive cases on May 14. As many as 20 COVID deaths were reported in Kamrup Metro, Kamrup (Rural) reported 5 deaths, 6 deaths in Tinsukia, 2 deaths in Nagaon and 4 deaths in Dibrugarh in the last 24 hours.
The Chief Minister is on a day-long visit to Tinsukia to assess the COVID situation in the district. He also visited the Tinsukia Civil Hospital to review the arrangements in the hospital amid rising number of COVID cases and deaths in the district.
He also visited Tingrai market in Digboi where two people were killed and two were seriously injured due to a grenade blast in a hardware shop. The CM also met the family of one of the deceased Surojit Talukdar. A Rs 5 lakh one-time financial aid has been announced for the families of the two killed in the grenade blast.
Also Read: Assam CM Sarma Visits Digboi's Tingrai Market Blast Site, Rs 5 lakh Each for Those Killed
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