Total lockdown extended in Kohima till Aug 7 as Coronavirus cases spike

Kohima: The total lockdown in Kohima was extended by a week till August 7, officials said on Friday. The decision to extend the total lockdown, which was ending at midnight, was taken at an emergency meeting of Kohima District Task Force (DTF), they said. The restrictions were imposed on July 25 to stem the spread of the coronavirus.

The extension of the total lockdown was necessitated after taking into consideration the recent surge in the COVID-19 cases in the district, stated an order issued by Deputy Commissioner Gregory Thejawelie, who is also the chairman of the task force. A notification issued on July 23 announcing the restriction strictly prohibited movement of people, vehicles and also opening of all business establishments, including the essential commodity shops while only people in rare medical emergencies and those involved in COVID-19 related works and pharmacies are exempted. The inter-state and inter-district movement has also been prohibited.

Thejawelie reiterated that the same provisions would continue to be in force. The respective wards, colonies and village panchayats have been asked to identify certain shops so as to make essential commodities available to the general public within the residential areas by adhering to coronavirus-related protocols. The authorities warned of strict penal actions in case of any violation. The first case of COVID-19 in the Nagaland capital was detected on May 25 among people who returned from Chennai and was undergoing quarantine.

Since then 299 cases were found in the city till July 24, a day before the lockdown was imposed. However, in the last seven days, 175 new cases were detected, taking the tally to 474. Among them, 127 have recovered while 347 are active but asymptomatic. Meanwhile, the Association of Kohima Municipal Ward Panchayats president Neibulie Kiewhuo said that the seven-day total lockdown passed off peacefully with no untoward incidents being reported from any of the areas. He conveyed gratitude to the citizens for the support in realising the need to follow the restrictions.

The state's commercial hub Dimapur is on the sixth day of its total lockdown imposed on July 26. Similar restrictions were imposed in the Mon district on July 27. All business establishments are shut in these districts while strict restrictions were also imposed on the movement of the people and vehicles, except for emergency medical services. The other nine districts in the state are following partial lockdown measures imposed by the state government in the fight against COVID-19 on March 22.