Nearly 3000 COVID-19 cases register in Guwahati in last five days, 12 districts of Assam ban entry of people from Guwahati and Kamrup (Metro)
Guwahati, July 9: 12 districts of Assam have banned the entry of people from Guwahati and Kamrup (Metro). Guwahati has now become a hotspot of COVID-19 in Northeast India as the capital city of Assam registered 2938 positive cases for the deadly virus in the last five days.
During the period, the state has reported 4233 COVID-19 positive cases and Guwahati alone accounted for around 70 per cent cases.
According to the Assam state Health department, 777 positive cases for COVID-19 were detected in Guwahati city on July 4 as the state witnessed highest single-day spike in the numbers of the novel Coronavirus positive cases with 1202 cases.
The city which is also known as the gateway of Northeast had registered 552 positive cases for the new virus on July 5, 598 cases on July 6, 588 cases on July 7 and 423 cases on July 8.
The state has reported 696 COVID-19 positive cases in last 24 hours and with the new cases, the state tally has now surged to 14032.
Eight persons died due to COVID-19 in the state in last 48 hours taking the state death toll to 22.
On the other hand, given the alarming situation in Assam, 12 districts of the state have issued orders and banned the entry of people from Guwahati and Kamrup (Metro) district to the respective districts.
The districts which have banned the entry of the people from Guwahati and Kamrup (Metro) district are – Nagaon, Morigaon, Tinsukia, Dibrugarh, Sonitpur, Nalbari, Bswanath, Barpeta, Dhubri, South Salmara, Darrang and Kokrajhar.
In an order issued by the Nagaon district administration stated that – “Asymptomatic people who arrive at Nagaon from Kamrup (Metro) are advised to undergo home quarantine for 14 days strictly and symptomatic people are also advised to contact 104 (Toll-free number) and nearest ASHA or any health worker immediately.”
Guwahati is currently passing through a 14-day total lockdown and curfew from June 28.
On the other hand, Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Wednesday reviewed the COVID-19 induced lockdown scenario in Kamrup (Metro) district and took stock of the various measures undertaken for reducing the spread of Coronavirus in the district and rest of the state at a meeting held at Assam Administrative Staff College.
Appreciating the efforts of the health department, Kamrup (Metro) district administration, police and other line departments in successfully implementing the lockdown in the district, the Assam Chief Minister said that due to the strict implementation of lockdown protocols rate of positivity among the tested cases has come down from 36% to 16% in Kamrup (Metro) district.
“This lockdown would go a long way in breaking the chain of spread and managing affectively the transmission of the pandemic in Guwahati and other parts of Kamrup (Metro) district,” Sonowal said.
The Assam Chief Minister directed the district administration and police to ensure the supply of essential commodities so that people in the district do not have to face hardships during the lockdown period.
He also instructed for providing the essentials to the poor and underprivileged sections of the society.
It was also decided in the meeting that the NGOs coming forward to distribute food to the poor citizens would be able to do so after obtaining necessary permissions from local police stations.
Reiterating the state government’s commitment to protect the people of the state from COVID-19, Sonowal said that all future actions would be taken while giving priority to public opinion and various sections of the society would be consulted before further initiatives.
Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal called for an evaluation of the roadside vending of vegetables and other food items as allowing such practices could contribute to the spike of COVID-19 in the district.
Sonowal asked the Chief Secretary and DGP along with health department to monitor the situation in rest of the state as well and asked the district administrations of other districts to thoroughly examine all options before going for measures like lockdown in their respective districts.
