'Guwahati to enter 14 days complete lockdown from Sunday midnight': Himanta Biswa Sarma

Assam State Health and Finance Minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma on Friday anunced a complete lockdown in Guwahati from Sunday, June 28 midnight till July 12 due to rapid increase in number of Coronavirus cases in city. 14 days complete lockdown will be strictly imposed in Kamrup Metropolitan area, Sarma said while addressing media.

government has also imposed a curfew across state from 7 PM to 7 AM starting from Friday.

During Complete 14 days lockdown only medical stores will be allowed to function and rest everything else will be closed, Sarma asserted. " grocery stores will be allowed to open, It will be a strict lockdown", he added.  All government and private offices, businesses, shops, etc will remain closed including industries, minister declared.

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Banks will remain functional amid lockdown

health minister furr said that banks will function with minimum staff. Whereas hotels which are being used for quarantine purpose or to accommodate airline staffs will also be functional during strict lockdown. State Secretariat and Directorate level offices will also be working with minimum staff, he added. 

Different essential departments like Power, health, fire, defence and police will be exempted from lockdown along with media, Sarma informed.

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Weekend lockdown

exemptions will be given to grocery shops and vegetable markers during first seven days of lockdown. During weekend that is Saturday and Sunday, all municipalities and towns of state will remain closed. This will come into effect from June 27 Saturday and will continue till Covid-19 pandemic is over, Sarma said.

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COVID-19 situation in Assam

total number of Coronavirus cases in Assam stands at 6,646 as of Friday out of which 2,603 are active cases. 4,033 patients have recovered from lethal infection and 10 people have succumbed to infection. 

state has highest recovery rate in country and lowest mortality rate. Most of cases are being reported from city of Guwahati. 10,617 samples tested so far in Guwahati as 762 Covid-19 positive cases were found in city from June 15 till date.

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