Assam further eases Covid curbs

The Assam government given more relaxations of Covid curbs. According to Tuesday order, curfew timings have been reduced from 7 pm to 5 am. Restaurants, hotels and showrooms will be allowed to remain open till 6 pm. Physical classes in respect of final year of Graduate/Post-Graduate Engineering/Medical Colleges, GNM, Nursing courses and that of Aeronautical Engineering College will be allowed with fully vaccinated students, Health Minister Keshab Mahanta said. Fully vaccinated passengers arriving at airports and railway stations in Assam would be exempted from undergoing the mandatory rapid antigen test (RAT) and RT-PCR tests.

Gatherings in open spaces have been allowed with up to 200 people for public functions. For closed spaces, it shall be 50 per cent of hall capacity or 200 fully vaccinated persons, whichever is lower. Only 25 people are allowed for weddings and funerals. Religious places are allowed to open with up to 20 fully vaccinated people per hour for iconic places and 10 for other places. Cinemas and theatre halls will remain closed. The government has  also decided to allow open Namghars across the state up to 50 per cent of the capacity to perform Naam-Kirtan during the Assamese holy month of Bhado, Mahanta said.

"All incoming passengers who have been vaccinated with two doses of COVID-19 vaccines and possess such a certificate, on production of the same in front of the screening authority, shall be exempted from mandatory testing on arrival at airports, railway stations, road border points etc, in Assam provided they also possess a negative COVID-19 test report of samples taken within 72 hours of their arrival in Assam," he said. The government allowing inter-district movement of people except from Guwahati (Kamrup district). Inter-district public transport will remain suspended.