Week-long 'total lockdown' in Assam's Jorhat city from Thursday

The Jorhat district administration in Assam has decided to impose a week-long "total lockdown" across Jorhat city from July 9 to check the spread of coronavirus, Deputy Commissioner Roshni Aparanji Korati said on Wednesday.

The DC has also issued a show-cause notice to the principal of Jorhat Medical College and Hospital for alleged negligence in allowing a surgeon to return from Guwahati to join duty before the result of his COVID-19 test is out, an official said.

Issuing an order, Korati said that "total lockdown" will be clamped from Thursday in areas under the Jorhat Municipal Board till July 15 in order to prevent further spread of the novel coronavirus.

Movement of all vehicles, opening of government and private offices, markets, shopping complexes and shops dealing in non-essential activities will not be allowed during the period, she added.

A total of 253 people have tested positive in Jorhat district so far and 71 of them are from Jorhat city alone.

To halt the rapidly rising positive COVID-19 cases, a two-week lockdown from June 28 is underway in Kamrup Metropolitan district, which primarily comprises Guwahati city.

Apart from Jorhat, several other districts such as Dibrugarh, Sivasagar, Dhubri, Nagaon, Kokrajhar and Nalbari have imposed restrictions on movement of people to-and-fro Kamrup Metropolitan after Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that community transmission is taking place in Guwahati.

Complete lockdown of varied duration has also been imposed in two other districts Dima Hasao and West Karbi Anglong - from Monday and Wednesday.

Meanwhile, a surgeon from Jorhat Medical College and Hospital (JMCH) tested positive for coronavirus infection on Tuesday evening after returning from Guwahati a few days ago.

A female junior doctor, who came in contact with the surgeon, also tested positive for the virus, creating panic in the hospital which is a COVID-19 centre.

The JMCH authorities sealed the surgery and anaesthesia departments to stop further spread of the virus among the medical staff, an official told PTI.

After knowing that the doctor did not quarantine himself after giving his swab on return from Guwahati and joined duty, the district administration issued a show-cause notice to the principal of the hospital, the official said.

"As per protocol, after collection of sample the person should remain in quarantine till result comes, but in this case he was allowed to work putting other people in risk.

This is serious negligence and therefore you are asked to give written explanation in this regard," said the notice from the DC to the JMCH principal.

The DC also asked the principal to submit the list of all doctors and other medical staff visiting Guwahati during the last 10 days with their phone numbers.

The total number of positive cases in the state has reached 13,336 with 814 new positive cases reported on Tuesday night, including 588 from the Guwahati city.

(Photo credit for representation: PTI)