Assam issues new SOP: All schools upto Class V shall remain closed till 30 January

Jan. 7: The timings of Covid curfew in the state has been revised. From now onwards, Covid curfew will start at 10 PM and continue till 6 in the morning. Shops should be closed maximum by 9 PM. Face masks has also been made compulsory. Fine will be imposed if people are found without masks. Non-vaccinated persons will not be allowed in schools, colleges, shops, offices, hotels, restaurants, malls and other public places. Only fully vaccinated persons will be allowed to enter public places.

If any non-vaccinated person is found to enter any hotel etc., the owner of such hotels or shops will be charged a fine of Rs. 25,000. This fine will vary as per the size of the establishments. A small tea shop may be charged a fine Rs. 1,000. The details of this will be released by the state government. People must have to always carry a proof of being fully vaccinated. Assam Chief Minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma said this during a Press Meet held at the Conference Hall, CM Block, Janata Bhawan, Guwahati on 7 January, 2022.

#AssamCovidUpdate 😷

In view of increasing #COVID19 cases, GoA has issued an SOP containing guidelines for containment of the pandemic:

▶️ Curfew will be imposed from 10 PM to 6 AM everyday. Business/commercial establishment will not function post 9 PM.

Please co-operate 🙏 pic.twitter.com/OO0I98jDFK

— Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) January 7, 2022

Non-vaccinated state government employees after 15 January will not be allowed to work in their respective offices. They will be declared on leave. Such persons will have to take compulsory Casual Leave, Earn Leave or have to be at home without salary, added the Chief Minister.

Senior citizens can take the 3rd dose can take the 3rd dose after expiry of 9 months from the 2nd dose. Those senior citizens who have taken their 2nd dose by 10 April are eligible for the booster dose.

During the vaccination process, all ANM staff nurse will be given an addition payment of Rs. 1500 per month upto 31 March. ASHA facilitators will also get this additional financial benifit. ASHA workers will get an additional amount of Rs. 1000 per month till 31 March.

▶️Non-vaccinated people shall not be allowed entry in public spaces/places (except hospitals) w.e.f. Jan 15, 2022. People must carry a proof of being fully vaccinated.

▶️Industrial units & tea gardens may function subject to observance of #COVID19 appropriate behaviour. pic.twitter.com/I5sWvrRSde

— Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) January 7, 2022

In public meetings or gatherings, maximum 200 persons or 50% attendance of the hall capacity can attend. That too only fully vaccinated persons will be allowed. In short, he said, “It will now be almost curfew for non-vaccinated or those with only one dose of vaccine.”

All schools (both public and private) upto Class V will be closed in entire Assam upto 30 January, 2022, said the Chief Minister. But in Guwahati all schools upto Clas VIII will remain closed. This will come into effect from 8 January, 2022. Classes from IX, X & XI will be held on alternative days. For rest higher educational institutions, classes will continue as usual but should abide by Covid appropriate behaviour. Education Department will come up with a detailed SOP in this regard tomorrow.

Inter-district travel will remain open. But all passengers should be fully vaccinated. No standing passengers will be allowed. Moreover, in auto, cars etc, no extra passengers can be taken. Passengers will be restricted as per the seating arrangement in such vehicles.

He said that all positive cases in Assam will be preliminary taken to be as Omicron. He also said as per in-house estimation, that this time the peak will be more higher this year due to Omicron. Further, the testing will now be increased from now onwards in the state.

Single vaccinated, non-vaccinated persons and those under 15 years will have to compulsorily undergo Covid test at airports and railway stations. However, those with double vaccination will not have to do Covid test on arrival, but were advised to do test at their home by using home test kits or come and do the same at any other facilities. Those who will test at home will turn shall have to call and inform at 104 or upload their test status at the NHM app.

LIVE from Janata Bhawan, Dispur. https://t.co/mNUhOdEl2b

— Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) January 7, 2022

The state government will prefer for home isolation of those detected as Covid positive, provided there should be a care giver at home. On completion of 7 days, such persons in home isolation will automatically be declared as released without doing any further test. However, those positive patients who will be hospitalised will be released automatically without any further test after 5 days. Moreover, free treatment will not be provided to positive patients who would seek hospitalisation. However, he added that the BPL population will be provided free treatment at hospitals. Also, those who would be admitted at Covid Care Centres will either have to bring their food from home or shall have to purchase food from canteens in these centres.

Meanwhile, at least seven more people, have tested positive for Omicron variant of coronavirus in Assam, taking the tally of the new strain to nine. Out of the 9 Omicron cases, 3 of them have been cured and discharged. Of the seven new Omicron patients, six have no travel history while one has come to Assam from a foreign country. The nine Omicron-positive patients include an Assam resident whose sample was collected in Meghalaya. This was stated by Assam Chief Minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma said this during a Press Meet held at the Conference Hall, CM Block, Janata Bhawan, Guwahati on 7 January, 2022.

On Thursday, out of 35,562 tests, 844 persons were detected as COVID-19 positive in Assam. With this, the state tally of coronavirus has now gone upto 6,23,332. The positivity rate in the state is 2,37 percent. Kamrup (Metro) district registered 369 positive cases during the day. Further, on Thursday, 02 died in the state due to COVID-19. The death toll in the state stands at 6,176. The recovery rate is 98.36 percent. Also, 132 patients were discharged during the day. At present, there are 2,689 active cases in the state. It needs mention here that on Wednesday, 591 persons tested positive in Assam and 04 deaths were registered.