Aizawl
The Mizoram government has reimposed a seven-day complete lockdown in Aizawl Municipal Corporation area in the wake of rising Covid cases, over two weeks after easing restrictions, officials said.
The announcement also comes days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the Covid situation was worrisome in some districts of the northeastern region, and urged the chief ministers to stay alert and act fast to check the further spread of the virus.
The health ministry, too, had flagged concerns over a surge in coronavirus cases in the region in the recent past, and central teams have been deputed to seven states, including Mizoram.
The shutdown will be in force from July 18 till midnight of July 24, an official order said.
Lockdown or other stringent restrictions may be imposed in other parts of the state by deputy commissioners depending on the pandemic situation, it said.
The Mizoram government had eased restrictions in the AMC area from June 30.
The order said the trajectory of positive cases continues to rise with the daily average of new infections growing steadily from 55 in April to 202 in May to 381 in the first fortnight of July.
With the majority of fresh cases being reported from the AMC area, the imposition of total lockdown is necessary to curtail a further surge, it said.