Kamrup (M) DC announces relaxation in locked wards before Total Lockdown hits on Sunday

Guwahati: Days before another complete lockdown is imposed in Guwahati city, Kamrup (Metro) Deputy Commissioner Biswajit Pegu has announced relaxations in the ward-wide lockdown that is already in place in many areas of the city.

The DC has said that the restrictions of the ward-wise lockdown zones will be relaxed from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm on 27th and 28th June, next. The stated purpose of this relaxation is "for facilitating the purchase of essential items from the market and for carrying out of other emergency works."

"Residents of the lockdown zones are advised to visit the nearby markets to avoid overcrowding and by maintaining COVID-19 protocols", the DC said in his order.

Earlier in the day, Assam Chief Secretary Kumar Sanjay Krishna said that the residents of the containment zone areas of Guwahati will also be allowed to venture out so that they can stock up on essentials before the city goes into lockdown mode.

Assam Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, making the announcement, said that this time around, the lockdown will be even stricter and even grocery stores will not be allowed to open in the first 7 days of the lockdown.

Although the recovery rate in the state has risen to 60.68% and the number of testings has increased to 3.5 lakh, Sarma has raised the alarm in regards to the rapidly rising number of cases in the city, where 762 people have tested positive for the contagion. This has prompted the state health department to call for another lockdown in the urban area.

Meanwhile, with the release of 214 more virus patients, the number of active cases in the state has now reached 2,387. As many as 9 people have been killed in Assam due to COVID-19 related complications.

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