The Nagaland Government imposed a total lockdown in the state from May 14 following a steady rise in COVID-19 cases.

The decision to impose the lockdown in the state comes after a meeting of the high powered committee on COVID-19 has been conducted.

While the government will issue a new set of standard operating procedures (SOPs) to be followed during the lockdown later on Tuesday, Mmhonlumo Kikon, spokesperson for the COVID-19 task force said existing restrictions will continue till the lockdown is in place.

Here are the exemptions during the lockdown:

• The government has said that essential services, including agricultural activities, will be exempted from the full lockdown.
• During the course of the lockdown, government departments will also continue to function with a core team of department heads.
• Construction activities may be permitted but the contractor and firms will be responsible for ensuring adherence to all SOPs for the workers
• During the lockdown period, the Health Department will pursue aggressive testing, utilizing the testing capacity of the COVID-19 laboratories.

As of May 10, Nagaland had about 16,283 COVID-19 cases following the detection of 133 fresh cases on Monday. The death toll rose to 150 with the death of 10 persons.

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