Assam further relaxes Covid-19 curbs, will come into effect from today

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government in Assam on Wednesday introduced further relaxations in its existing coronavirus disease (Covid-19) restrictions amid an improvement in the pandemic situation. According to an order issued by the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), the relaxations will come into effect from Thursday.

As per the order, the state government has now allowed 200 people with at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine to attend marriages and religious functions. Up to 100 people are allowed to attend funerals and last rites.

The ASDMA order also said that the district disaster management authorities will fix the limit of gatherings for open spaces depending on the pandemic situation in their jurisdiction and it will not be over 50% of seating capacity in closed venues.

Earlier, the Assam government on Tuesday cut the number of people attending marriages to a maximum of 50 people who had taken a single vaccine dose, from 200 fully inoculated people in the previous order, which was issued on October 1. Fifty people were allowed to attend the last rites as per this order.

While on Tuesday, the state government also relaxed the timings of the night curfew. The night curfew will now be imposed from 11 pm to 5 am, instead of beginning at 10 pm before, as per an ASDMA order on Tuesday.

Cinema halls and auditoriums are allowed to operate with 50% capacity, the above order added.

Assam has so far reported 609,506 cases, 5,987 deaths, 599,681 recoveries and 2,491 active cases due to the coronavirus disease.

On Wednesday, the state reported 244 new cases, while 391 more patients recovered and six succumbed to the viral disease. This is the first time this week that the daily tally dropped below the 300-mark. Previously, Assam saw 139 cases last Sunday (October 24).

In total, authorities in Assam have administered 27,497,135 vaccine doses to eligible beneficiaries of which nearly 20 million have received the first dose while the remaining 7,519,601 are fully vaccinated.