Assam government on Monday decided to suspend inter-district movement of persons and vehicles for 15 days beginning May 21 amid a record number of Covid-19 cases and deaths in the state.

The restrictions on inter-state movement will not apply to government officials, emergency and essential services, travel for medical emergencies and Covid-19 vaccination etc.

Movement of goods will also remain unaffected. Those requiring travel for medical emergencies, last rites will be allowed with written permission from the authorities of the originating district.

The state government has decided to provide food items worth ₹2,000 to poor and economically weak households in containment zones.

To ensure early detection of Covid-19 cases, the government has decided to conduct around 100,000 Covid tests daily from Monday.

While suggestions have been made that imposition of total lockdown, at least for a week, is needed to control the rising Covid cases, the new government in the state has decided against it, till now.

“We haven’t imposed a total lockdown as we are also concerned about the livelihoods of people. We are trying to create a mid-way between economic activity and Covid control. If that process fails and Covid-19 cases continue to rise, we might have to consider a total lockdown,” chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma told HT on Sunday.

“It has been observed that with unabated inter-district movement, the Covid-19 containment measures are not yielding the desired level of reduction of cases,” said the fresh order by Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA).

Assam on Monday recorded 6,394 new Covid-19 infections and 92 deaths—most in a day since the pandemic started last year. The positivity rate, which was hovering between 8% and 9% in the past few days, however, dipped to 6.99% with 91,481 tests being conducted over the period.

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