Assam unlocks with evening curfew and weekend lockdown

All malls, gymnasiums and restaurants in the state will be allowed to open from Monday to Friday till August 15, with movement of individuals to be strictly prohibited between 6pm and 6am on all weekdays.

Fancy Bazar in Guwahati. (PTI/File)
The Assam government on Sunday announced the latest unlock measures, with an evening curfew in place and a complete lockdown to be imposed on weekends.

According to an order passed by Assam chief secretary Kumar Sanjay Krishna, all malls, gymnasiums and restaurants in the state will be allowed to open from Monday to Friday till August 15, with movement of individuals to be strictly prohibited between 6pm and 6am on all weekdays.

The order said in Guwahati — which was under a complete, and then a partial lockdown over the last five weeks — malls and gymnasiums would be allowed to open on one side of a road on one day and on the other side the next day. In all other cities, malls and gymnasiums would be allowed to open on both sides of roads across the state. Hotels are also allowed to open.

“Inter-district movement of people is allowed on Monday and Tuesday only. No separate permission/approval/e-permit will be required for inter-district movement,” the order said.

It added that all government offices would operate with 100 per cent attendance from Monday. The order continued, “Cinema halls, swimming pools, entertainment parks, theatres, bars, auditoriums, assembly halls and similar places of public gathering shall remain closed.”

On July 18, the Assam government had ordered a partial unlock of Guwahati after three weeks of a complete lockdown. This order had allowed cab aggregators, auto-rickshaws and rickshaws following sanitisation norms, while private vehicles — except travelling to-and-fro from work or those on government duty — were prohibited.

Sunday’s order did not mention anything on vehicles and said that all permitted activities in the earlier order will continue between 7am to 5pm Monday to Friday, “subject to opening of only one side of the street”.

As of August 1, Assam had reported a total of 41,726 Covid cases with 101 deaths. The state’s positivity rate as on Saturday was 5.36 per cent against 27,161 tests in the day.

News Source Indian Express