12-hour night curfew in Assam; 2-week lockdown imposed in Guwahati

Guwahati: Assam will impose a total lockdown in Guwahati for 14 days from 7 pm on Sunday, a decision prompted by a sharp increase in Covid-19 cases. The rest of the urban areas will see curfew from 7 pm to 7 am and weekend lockdown in towns and municipal areas.

“We know economic activities will be hurt and government revenue will take a beating. However, we have to take tough measures. From Sunday midnight we are clamping total lockdown in Guwahati,” said Assam’s health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.

“All government offices, offices of autonomous /subordinate offices and private offices shall remain closed. Even grocery shops will remain closed, places of worship will remain closed. Only critical construction activity is allowed. It will be like curfew and this will be the strictest,” he said.


He said instead of 9 pm curfew will start at 7 pm and continue till 7 am in Guwahati till Sunday. In towns and municipal areas across Assam there will be lockdown on Saturdays and Sundays. The state has reported 6,646 positive cases, out of which 4,033 have recovered.

Since June 15 Guwahati alone has reported 762 cases, out of which 677 cases did not have travel history.

Sarma said the state saw 315 cases, the highest in a single day, on Friday. In recent days, he said, the average was 250 cases a day in the state, with the total number of cases increasing to 285,263 cases.

“On Thursday we got 276 cases, out of which 133 cases are from Guwahati. For Guwahati we have 890 hospital beds and if we keep on getting 200 patients everyday it will be very difficult to accommodate,” said Sarma.