Manipur has recorded the first COVID-19 death.
Officials said on Wednesday that a 48-year-old woman died in Mumbai on Tuesday night. She had gone to the city for the treatment of his husband.
Family sources said the body could not be brought to Manipur for the last rites because of the lockdown.
The Manipur Cabinet met and decided to close three women’s markets, all shops in the Thangal and Paona markets, other shops in and around the capital Imphal. However, markets shall operate in rural areas. The meeting also agreed to bear the train and bus fares of those returning to Manipur from any other State.
In Imphal, the police forced closure of shops that opened on Monday, after thousands thronged them. A police officer said the lockdown and the curfew are still in force. The people were given a few hours to buy essentials. The shops would remain shut until new guidelines were announced.
The Imphal police arrested a 38-year-old person for allegedly posting a message on Facebook that one woman in the State was found positive. The police said the report was baseless.
Some Ministers and MLAs have hired tourist buses, paying their own money, to bring back the stranded people hailing from their constituencies. Some of those stranded in other States without food and accommodation have accused the government of giving them endless assurances to transport them back to Manipur.
A youth said the bus fare from Imphal to Guwahati, Assam’s capital, is ₹700. But the drivers of four buses who had gone to fetch the stranded persons had charged each ₹3,000 and ₹3,500. The Manipuri everywhere had lost a huge sum as they had to cancel their air tickets more than twice. The government had assured them that it would reimburse the cost, but it did nothing.