Assam declares 2 week lockdown starting Monday

Guwahati, June 26: In a bid to control the spread of the pandemic, Assam has declared a two week lockdown in Guwahati.

IT has been decided to enforce the lockdown from Monday to control the spread of the coronavirus. The government also decided to impose a night-curfew across the state.

Meanwhile the Centre is likely to announce the Unlock 2.0 guidelines on June 30. While cases continue to rise, there are likely to be more easing of the restrictions.

Reports suggest that as part of Unlock 2.0, there is a likelihood of international travel being allowed on certain routes. This also comes in the wake of several airlines raising objections to Air India's monopoly in the Vande Bharat Mission.

It is likely that flights may be allowed on the US, UK, France and Germany routes. Civil Aviation Minister, Hardeep Singh Puri had said that a decision to resume international passenger flights will be taken in July. He said that it would depend on the coronavirus behaviour and if the entire ecosystem and state governments are onboard.

Puri said that he is often asked, when can international flights resume. If you leave it to me and if the ecosystem works, and if we have the predictability in terms of the behaviour of the virus, I think in the coming month, we should taking the decisions, he had also said.

On the education front, schools, colleges and universities are likely to remain shut, post June 30 also. State governments have expressed their reluctance to resume classes.

Parents too have been extremely skeptical about sending their children to schools. MHRD Minister, Ramesh Pokriyal had said that educational institutions may only start in August.

Unlock 2.0 would also see the Centre taking a decision on re-opening of gyms and bars.

While there is no word on this, sources have told OneIndia that the Centre would take a feedback from the states on various such issues.

In several states, area wise sealing has been undertaken. Four areas in Bengaluru were completely sealed off in the wake of the rising number of cases. Tamil Nadu, Assam and Mizoram have extended the lockdown until June 30. In West Bengal, the lockdown has been extended in the containment zones until July 31.