Guwahati: Faced with the challenge of controlling the rampant spread of the COVID-19 disease, the Government of Sikkim has declared a complete lockdown in the state for a week from tomorrow (July 21) onwards.
During the lockdown government and private offices, shops, business establishments, schools will remain closed. The movement of private vehicles will also be restricted during the complete lockdown in Sikkim. Sikkim has recorded 283 confirmed cases of COVID-19 out of which 191 are active and 92 are cured. Notably, the state has registered the lowest number of cases in the Northeast Indian region. Among the Northeast Indian states, Assam sits at the top of the pile with 23,999 active cases and 57 deaths.
The complete guidelines for this upcoming phase of total lockdown in Sikkim are as under:
Notably, Sikkim was the last state in India to report COVID-19 cases. This delay was largely attributed to the strict pre-emptive measures undertaken by the Sikkim government in order to curb the spread of the virus. During the COVID-19 pandemic, all necessary precautionary measures were taken by the Sikkim Government from the very beginning which helped the State to handle the crisis situation effectively to a large extent.
The first case in Sikkim surfaced on May 23, when a 25-year-old IAS aspirant who had returned from New Delhi after the easing of lockdown restrictions, tested positive for the deadly contagion. Ever since then, the number of cases has ballooned with the ongoing influx of citizens who were stuck in other parts of the country during the lockdown.
This latest move by the Sikkim government is being seen as a countermeasure to stop the COVID-19, which has spread to many areas in the state including the remote interiors, dead in its tracks.