Assam imposes 15-hour lockdown to curb rising COVID cases

Assam, May 16: In view of rising COVID-19 cases in the country, the Assam government on Saturday (May 15, 2021) issued fresh directives for lockdown that will be imposed from Sunday (May 16, 2021) until further orders.

In light of the Lockdown, the Assam government imposed stricter guidelines like making it mandatory for commercial establishments to shut shop by 11 am to curb the spread of COVID-19.

“In continuation of the order dated 12 May 2021, and in the exercise of the powers, conferred under Section 22(2) (h) of the Disaster Management Act, 2005, the undersigned, in his capacity as Chairperson, State Executive Committee of the State Disaster Management Authority, Assam, hereby issues the following directives which will be applicable in respect of urban areas and adjacent areas within a 5 km radius from the periphery of municipal corporation / municipal boards/ revenue towns and shall come into the force with effect from 5 is of May 16, 2021, until further orders”, read the order copy by the government.

Here are the complete guidelines:

All shops and commercial establishments shall shut down at 11 am on all days.

All vehicles other than government vehicles and those exempted will be allowed to ply in accordance with an odd-even formula to be decided by the jurisdictional District Disaster Management Authority between 5 am to 12 noon.

However, this vehicular restriction shall not apply to personal vehicles used for medical emergencies.

– Religious places and weekly markets will remain shut for 15 days.

– Total ban on movement of people from 2 pm to 5 am.


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There shall be a total ban on the movement of individuals from 12 noon to 5 AM daily except for exemptions. The above order is issued to further strengthen the containment of the spread of COVID-19,” read the order.

The state authorities added that the order will come into effect from 5 AM of May 16, adding that these new curbs will be applicable in urban and adjacent areas within a five km radius from the periphery of the municipal corporations, municipal boards, and revenue towns.

Meanwhile, Assam on Saturday reported 5347 fresh COVID-19 cases in the last 24-hours, as per the state health bulletin.

The fresh cases on Saturday took the state’s active cases tally to 44,008, while the positivity rate stands at 8.26 per cent.