The Manipur government on Friday ordered 10-day total curfew in the entire state with effect from July 18 till July 27 in view of the unabated surge in the number of COVID-19 cases in the state.
The order stated that the number of COVID-19 positive cases continued to be very high relative to the population and is a cause of concern and warrants stringent measures to check the spread of the infection across the state.
However, essential services or activities related to vaccination, COVID-19 testing, medical service (hospital, clinics/ pharmacies), water supply, power supply, police, telecom/internet services, air travel, agriculture/horticulture, garbage clearance, petrol pumps, LPG distributor and goods truck are excluded from the purview of curfew. This supersedes the order dated July 9, 2021, stated the order issued by the home department
The order was signed by chief secretary of state, who is also chairman of state executive committee of the state disaster management authority, Rajesh Kumar.
The order further stated that essential and key departments of the government will continue to function with minimal staff considered by the administrative secretary/head with emphasis on e-office/work from home.
Meanwhile, the state health services teams have been conducting house-to-house COVID-19 testing in several parts of the state since July 11 in the effort to contain the spread of the disease.
Expressing concern over the Covid-19 situation in the state, Chief Minister N Biren Singh had earlier said that the state government was taking up various strategies to fight COVID-19 but reluctance of the people to get tested and inoculated was causing a major hindrance in controlling the pandemic.
Biren had further said that the government will continue house-to-house vaccination along with mobile vaccination at the spots of testing centres. Besides this, assistants or caretakers will be prohibited from entering the COVID Care Centres as per protocol, he said.
Pointing out the challenges faced by the government to tackle the pandemic, the chief miniser said that COVID-19 is not an easy thing due to absence of adequate infrastructure in the state. However, the government is initiating all possible means to meet the requirements from time to time.
