Meghalaya Assembly Speaker Metbah Lyngdoh on Friday wrote to chief minister Conrad Sangma, urging him to extend the lockdown period till April 30, as the number of COVID-19 cases have been rising in the country.
Though no such case has been reported from the state so far, the government should continue with the existing measures to tackle the crisis by end of the current month so that Meghalaya remains free of COVID-19, he said.
“There is an increasing number of COVID-19 patients in the country. It is worrisome. I have written to the chief minister to consider extension of the lockdown period till April end,” Metbah told PTI.
The speaker, who is also the president of the United Democratic Party, a partner of the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance government, said big markets such as Iewduh, Jowai, and Tura should be closed for the time being.
“Only small local markets where social distancing protocols can be maintained may be allowed to start functioning after the ongoing lockdown period is over,” he said.
Deputy chief minister Prestone Tynsong hinted that the cabinet will meet early next week to decide on the matter.
While NREGA and construction works have been allowed to resume, but no workers from outside the state will be given permission to enter Meghalaya.
“All entry and exit points of the state will remain closed during the lockdown with restrictions on inter-district movements,” a government official said.
The speaker emphasised on carrying out sanitisation exercise at the checkpoints so that vehicles ferrying essential commodities are sanitised properly.
Lyngdoh also urged the government to strengthen the logistics facilities for transporting agricultural produce of farmers of the state.
He appealed to the government to monitor the prices of essential commodities in the state.
Also read: Lockdown will continue till 30th April in Maharashtra, says Uddhav Thackeray
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