While lockdown in the entire state of Assam may not be in the cards, it might be enforced in few parts of the state if COVID cases are on a steady surge, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Friday.
Speaking to reporters in Guwahati, CM Sarma said that lockdown will be imposed in Guwahati, Dibrugarh and Tinsukia if the COVID-19 situation doesn't improve.
He added that the state government will be compelled to impose such sanctions to contain the virus which is on a second wave now, wrecking havoc in the country as a whole.
Just after a meeting with doctors and officials of Gauhati Medical College & Hospital (GMCH) and National Health Mission (NHM), CM Sarma spoke to reporters outside and made the statement.
He also stressed on the fact that the Indian-origin COVID variant is much more deadlier than the previous one and urged people to be more careful.
Earlier today, an order issued by the state government said that posters would be pasted outside residences of COVID-19 patients who are in self-isolation or home quarantined in Assam.
According to the order, the decision was taken as there have been some reports of COVID patients not observing COVID appropriate behaviour leading to further spread of the virus among those who are uninfected.
It also said that the posters would be removed later after the said COVID patients recover from the virus.
Further, the order also stressed that there has been a significant surge of COVID-19 cases in the state since last few days and said that "strict measures" are required to contain it.
On Thursday, Assam reported 5,468 new cases of Covid-19, taking the active caseload to 42,144. It also recorded 4,219 discharges and 75 deaths.
A total of 59, 594 tests were conducted, of which, 1, 173 new cases were recorded in Kamrup Metro, 452 cases in Dibrugarh, 431 cases in Kamrup Rural, and 332 cases in Nagaon.