Imphal: Manipur government on Friday imposed night curfew from 6 pm to 4 am with immediate effect to address the rapid rise of COVID-19 cases in the state, as per an order issued by chief secretary Rajesh Kumar.
The night curfew will be on till December 31 or until further notice.
However, movement of essential services, goods trucks and officials on duty are exempted from the purview of curfew restrictions, the order said.
During the period, the state will allow social and customary ceremonies to be organised only for family members. In case more people want to attend, the size of the gathering or event will be restricted up to only 20 people.
To control crowding in markets as precautionary measures, the chief secretary further said that opening of shops in Thangal and Paona Bazaars, two of the largest markets in the state, will allow opening in a rooster system. However, all shops will remain closed on Sunday, it said.
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Apart from Imphal West and Imphal East districts, the deputy commissioners of other districts are instructed to prepare their own schedule of opening their markets based on local requirements.
It may be noted that owing to the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, Ima Keithel (mother’s market) in Imphal has closed down. And even economic activities have resumed in other parts of the nation, over 5,000 women vendors are still awaiting for systematic guidelines from the government to reopen.
Earlier, the women vendors appealed the state government to allow them to reopen the market for a few days before the Ningol Chakouba Festival, which was held on November 17 with proper guidelines and SoPs for COVID-19.
As of November 27, Manipur has recorded 24,514 coronavirus cases, with 21,006 persons recovering. Another 3,252 remain as active cases. So far, COVID-19 has claimed 256 lives in the state.
Also Read: Manipur: Ima Keithel women vendors ask for permission to open market before festival