Jump in COVID-19 infection rate | Assam curfew extended

No-movement duration in rural areas stretched from 11 to 15 hours

A flock of geese wander along a deserted street during a 15-day partial lockdown imposed to curb the spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus in Guwahati on May 20, 2021

The Assam government on Tuesday extended the COVID-19 curfew from May 31 to June 5 in view of the jump in the infection rate over the last 48 hours.

Chief Secretary Jishnu Barua said the no-movement duration in the urban and semi-urban areas will continue to be of 17 hours from 12 noon to 5 a.m. with traders required to shut shop by 11 a.m.

The curfew timing in the rural areas has been stretched from 11 to 15 hours with immediate effect.

Accordingly, shops and commercial establishments there will have to shut down by 1 p.m. for people to be prepared to stay indoors from 2 p.m. to 5 a.m. The earlier restriction was from 6 p.m. to 5 a.m.

The order cites the usual exemptions for certain categories of people such as frontline and health workers and vehicles carrying essential commodities.

Data provided by the Health and Family Welfare Department showed daily active cases had dipped from 5,980 on May 22 to 3,563 the following day. But 6,221 cases were detected on Monday, taking the active caseload to 52,649 with the positivity rate being 5.16%.

Assam on Monday recorded 84 COVID-related deaths, up from 72 on Sunday