Manipur has decided to impose total lockdown across the state for 10 days from July18, as COVID-19 cases rise. The state has nearly 10,000 active cases, with daily fatalities around 14 to 17, said official sources.
Chief Minister N Biren Singh said in a statement: "In view of the Covid situation in the state, there will be a strict curfew from July 18-28. All institutions, except essential services, will remain closed. Further, only the people coming out for vaccination and testing will be permitted to venture out."
The decision came just two days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a meeting with the chief ministers of northeastern states and expressed concern about the rising number of cases. While Manipur has been affected the most, the number of cases in Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura and Assam are also increasing.
Manipur is battling bed shortage in the hospitals. A land-locked state which is largely dependent on Assam for essential commodities, the state has to make contact with several other neighbouring states.
The chief minister's office told THE WEEK: "At this stage, our prime concern is to arrest the number of deaths. We are not in the third wave but passing through the second wave. The chief minister has asked for more help from the central government and from states like Assam, which is the biggest state in northeast."
More testing facilities are being created in Manipur. People from hilly regions are being allowed to take medical facilities from Barak Valley of Assam.
"With very limited options, as we have only one big hospital in Imphal, the state has no other option but to clamp 24 hours curfew for ten days. Hope things will settle by then. After that we will review the situation," said the spokesman of CMO.
