Nagaland Government extends lockdown amid continued surge in coronavirus cases

Guwahati: Amid a dramatic rise in the number of coronavirus cases, the Nagaland government on Thursday decided to extend the ongoing lockdown measures in the state by a month till August 31.

The decision to extend the lockdown was taken at a meeting of the High-Powered Committee (HPC) that was constituted for the planning and coordination of anti-coronavirus efforts.

In today's meeting, it was also decided to notify a single Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for all the districts to arrest the spread of the contagion.

On June 11, the HPC, with Deputy Chief Minister Y Patton as co-convener, had extended the lockdown till July 31.

Today, the HPC "thoroughly deliberated" on the existing lockdown measures and decided to further extend the shutdown by another month due to the continued rise of coronavirus cases across the state.

The Northeastern state, one of the last states in the region to report the viral infection, has so far reported a cumulative tally of 1,561 positive cases, of which 961 are active which 595 have recovered. Five have died due to coronavirus in the state so far.

Neiba Kronu, a Government spokesperson, stated that the SOP and guidelines on lockdown measures are being issued. He added that the functioning of schools and colleges will be strictly restricted during the period. The opening of schools and colleges has also been prohibited by the Centre, at least until August 31.

Kronu further added that the meeting reiterated the empowerment of the respective District Task Force to take a decision on imposition or extension of total lockdown as per the "situational requirement" of the respective district.

3 districts of Nagaland -- Kohima, Dimapur, and Mon -- are under total lockdown due to a high prevalence of coronavirus cases.

Dimapur is the worst affected with 434 positive cases, Kohima has 316 and the interior Mon district that borders Assam has 138 active cases.

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