GUWAHATI: The on-going lock down in Kamrup (Metro) district including Guwahati city in Assam has been extended by another 7 days from 6 PM of July 12 till 7 PM of July 19 as per the recommendation of the State Health Department and Kamrup (Metro) Deputy Commissioner in order to arrest the spread of COVID-19 in the area.
The lockdown will be total except stand-alone grocery shops and stationary shops dealing in essential commodities will be allowed to operate during 8 AM to 4 Pm from Monday to Friday. All establishments except hospitals, pharmacies, media houses and government offices of exempted categories will be allowed to operate.
Earlier in the day , State Health Minister, Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma informed that following a meeting among various citizens; committee, Health Department and Kamrup (Metro) Deputy Commissioner on Friday, the Health department had recommended the state government for extension of the lockdown by another week though citizens committees wanted an extension of 14 days.
“The rate of detection of positive cases since the imposition of lockdown in Kamrup (Metro) on June 29 last has come down from 30 % to 16 % per day (average daily detection rate 23 %), another seven days’ lockdown should be sufficient to bring the virus transmission under control provided the city/district is opened in the subsequent (4th) week with restrictions from 7 am to 4 pm,” the Health Minister said.
He informed that in Guwahati city with a resident population of over 10 lakhs almost one tenth (96,686) have been covered under COVID screening test which is a record among all cities in the country. Rapid Antigen tests have tried on 6256 city residents out of whom 1304 (21 %) have tested COVID-19 positive.
The Health Minister warned that though rate of detection of positive cases have come down in the city, the virus is still very active in the city and situation demands extreme caution and restraint on part of the residents.