The Assam government announced on Monday that inter-district movement of people and vehicles will be suspended for 15 days beginning May 21 due to a record number of Covid-19 cases and deaths in the state.
“It has been observed that with unabated inter-district movement, the Covid-19 containment measures are not yielding the desired level of reduction of cases,” said the fresh order by Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA).
Assam recorded 6,394 new Covid-19 infections and 92 deaths on Monday, the most in a single day since the pandemic began last year. The positivity rate, which had been hovering between 8% and 9% in the previous few days, dropped to 6.99 percent with 91,481 tests conducted over the period.
The restrictions on interstate travel will not apply to government officials, emergency and essential services, medical emergencies, and Covid-19 vaccination, among other things.
The movement of goods will be unaffected as well. Those who require travel for medical emergencies or last rites will be permitted with written permission from the originating district’s authorities.
The state government has decided to provide 2,000 food items to poor and economically disadvantaged households in containment zones.
To ensure early detection of Covid-19 cases, the government has decided to conduct approximately 100,000 Covid tests per day beginning Monday.
While suggestions have been made that total lockdown, at least for a week, is required to control the rising Covid cases, the state’s new government has decided against it for the time being.
“We haven’t imposed a total lockdown as we are also concerned about the livelihoods of people. We are trying to create a mid-way between economic activity and Covid control. If that process fails and Covid-19 cases continue to rise, we might have to consider a total lockdown,” chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma told HT on Sunday.
