E-Paper
Assam extends Corona curfew till June 5; offices in urban areas to stay closed
Assam government’s new curfew order directs all shops and business establishments in rural areas to shut down at 1 pm on all days and bans people’s movement from 2 pm to 5 am.
Assam on Tuesday extended the curfew to contain the spread of Covid-19 till June 5 and added some new restrictions for rural areas while government and private offices in urban areas continue to remain shut.
“Though it is observed that the containment measures taken so far have been effective over the last few days, adequate measures for both urban and rural areas are still of utmost necessity in order to further contain Covid-19 across the state,” said an order issued by chief secretary Jishnu Baruah.
As per the new order, all shops and business establishments in rural areas will shut down at 1 pm on all days and people’s movement will be banned from 2 pm to 5 am. All restaurants and eateries will be allowed home delivery of food after 1pm, while those housed in resorts and hotels will be allowed to operate dine-in for in-house guests as per their usual timings.
Among other exceptions, cold storages and warehouses in rural areas will be allowed to remain open after 1 pm. But sale counters, showrooms etc. attached to these warehouses or cold storages shall not operate after 1 pm.
In urban areas, all offices, both government and non-government, will remain closed and shops, markets and business establishments will have to down shutters at 11 am on all days.
There will be a ban on movement of vehicles and persons in urban areas between 12 pm and 5 am on all days. Vehicles will be allowed on roads during the designated hours following an odd-even formula. However, this restriction shall not apply for private vehicles used for medical emergencies, the order states.
Essential and emergency services and their employees too have been exempted from the restrictions.
Educational institutions will remain closed, but have been asked to provide quality options for online classes.
Marriages, religious functions and funeral/last rites will have to be conducted with a maximum presence of 10 persons. All religious places will be closed for 15 days, but their religious heads will be allowed to continue conducting minimal rituals.
All public transport will operate but only with 30% capacity. Auto-rickshaws, taxis and e-rickshaws can operate with one driver and two passengers. Pillion riding will be prohibited in two-wheelers with exceptions for women and children.
The existing ban on inter-district movement of vehicles and persons will also remain in place till June 5.
While the Covid-19 test positivity rate (TPR) in Assam has gone down to around 5% in the past few days, the state has still been recording 5,500-6,000 new cases and around 80 deaths daily. On Tuesday, the state recorded 5,767 new cases and 92 deaths.
