With Manipur witnessing a steady surge in the COVID-19 infections, the state government issued a revised guideline to check spread of the viral disease on Saturday.
An order issued by chief secretary Dr Rajesh Kumar, who is also the chairman of the State Executive Committee of the State Disaster Management Authority, Saturday restricted gathering of more than 50 people for any activities and maximum of 200 persons in case of open spaces.
Wearing of face mask in public places, gatherings and crowded areas is a critical Covid Appropriate Behaviour and it should be strictly enforced, the new order stated. Violators will be penalised promptly under relevant rules, it added.
The restrictions are being imposed in view of the rapid increase in the “Test Positivity Ratio”, absolute number of COVID-19 positive cases per day and detection of Covid-19 variant B.1.1529 (OMICRON) in the state, the order stated.
The new guideline will remain in force till fresh guidelines relating to public gathering are received from the Election Commission of India, it added.
A steady surge in the COVID-19 infections was witnessed in the state since the beginning of the New Year and the number of daily infections remained above 100-mark in the last five days.
Manipur on Saturday reported 158 fresh COVID-19 infections which is above 100-mark for the fifth consecutive day and two deaths after no COVID-19 related deaths for three consecutive days. With this, Manipur’s overall COVID-19 infection tally rose to 1,26,979 and the fatality toll to 2,014.