Giving in to calls for immediate lockdown in Nagaland from various organisations including NPF Legislature Party and Sumi, the state’s High Powered Committee (HPC) on Covid-19 has decided to impose total lockdown throughout Nagaland with effect from 6 p.m. on May 14 till May 21 even as existing restrictions over containment areas will continue till lockdown is in place.
The decision was made at a meeting of the HPC chaired by chief minister Neiphiu Rio at the CM’s residential complex Tuesday, government spokespersons- minister of planning & coordination, land revenue, parliamentary affairs Neiba Kronu, and adviser IT, Science & Technology, NRE, Mmhonlumo Kikon stated in a press note.
They said during the lockdown, the health and family welfare will undertake aggressive testing utilising full testing capacities in Covid-19 testing laboratories.
Almost all the states across India have imposed lockdown the latest being Nagaland and Telengana. In the North Eastern states, Mizoram and Meghalaya have imposed total lockdown till May 17. Despite witnessing massive surge in daily Covid-19 cases in Assam, the state government on Tuesday cleared the ‘COVID Action Plan’, to be announced on Wednesday.
After a cabinet meeting, Health Minister Keshab Mahanta said that there was still no decision about a total lockdown. Certain stringent measures are expected to be announced as part of the COVID Action Plan, he said.
Meanwhile, chief secretary J. Alam on Tuesday issued a revised SOP following the announcement of the state-wide lockdown. Under the revised order, all activities and movement of person(s) individual shall be suspended during the lockdown period except those permitted/exempted.
Following have been permitted– movement of vehicles carrying essential commodities/food items and medical supplies including oxygen/ oxygen cylinders and other medical equipment.
All healthcare facilities, pharmacies, hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, movement of healthcare workers including those for animal healthcare, COVID-19 vaccination, COVID testing and medical emergencies.
DTF shall evolve a mechanism to facilitate opening of vegetable, fish/meat vendors, milk booths, bakeries, local grocery stores, hardware, electrical and electronics shops including those that sell animal feed shops for public purchase from 6 a.m. to 12 noon in consultation with the respective colony/ward authorities ensuring COVID-19 appropriate behaviour. Public may be advised to shop their essential needs from within their colony only.
Petrol pumps shall remain open, while ensuring there is no crowding.
All establishments and personnel relating to electronic and print media, telecom/ internet service providers.
Dimapur Airport to remain open and movement of staff and passengers (with proof of ticket) will be permitted subject to adherence of Covid-19 appropriate behaviours.
Hotels for lodging shall be allowed to remain open with minimum staff. Further, restaurants shall remain closed for in-house dining. They may however cater through home delivery services. Food delivery, groceries delivery and other e-Commerce Service providers are allowed.
Funeral services limited to not more than 20 persons.
All officers and staff working in the governor’s secretariat, chief minister’s office, chief secretary’s office, Guwahati High Court Kohima Bench and district courts, district administration, police, security forces, fire & emergency services, Home department, medical, postal services, NIC, NSDMA, home guards & civil defence, SDRF, power, PHED, food & civil supplies, finance, taxes, treasury and accounts, banks/ ATMs, IT & C, IPR, AIR and Doordarshan, social welfare department including functioning of Sakhi One Stop Centre, women help Line, child protection services, Anganwadi services, LPG services including delivery, distribution and transportation, private water tanker/carriers, prison and related services, courier services, municipal services like cleaning and sanitation, food corporation of India (FCI), directorate of state lotteries, power grid corporation of India Ltd. and administrative training institute (ATI).
Agriculture and allied activities and ongoing construction works will be allowed subject to the contractor/owner ensuring adherence to Covid-19 appropriate behaviours. The concerned District Task Force (DTF) shall ensure that labourers already at site are engaged and no new labourers are brought from outside. Further transportation to and from the camp to the work site shall be arranged by the concerned contractor/ owner.
Restricted: All places of mass gathering shall be closed and all social/ political/ sports/ entertainment/ academic/ cultural/ religious functions and other large congregations barred, except for solemnization of weddings with prior permission of the District Task Force limited to a maximum of 20 (Twenty) persons.
Movement of all private and public transport vehicles shall be suspended except for medical emergencies with an occupancy of 50% and COVID appropriate behaviour. All other cases shall require special permission from the DTF. However, government vehicles whose movement are required for the departments exempted shall be allowed subject to production of valid ID cards on demand.
The movement of inter-state transit passengers shall continue to be allowed as per provisions of the Revised Standard Procedure (SOP) for returnees and travellers entering Nagaland issued on April 29, 2021.
The AHoDs, HoDs, heads of offices and core group of officers/staff in their respective departments will attend to urgent and essential matters including court cases. All other government employees should be available on call.
Strict enforcement of these restrictions shall be ensured by the respective District Task Forces and strict checking shall be done at the district entry points to prevent non-essential movement of people.
Any person/ group of persons acting in violation of this order shall be deemed to have committed an offence punishable under Section 188 of the Indian Penal Code and relevant provisions of the Disaster Management Act 2005.
