Using her powers under Section 144 of the CrPC and Covid-19 regulations, the East Khasi Hills District Magistrate issued an order today that prohibits all shops, establishments, roadside markets and roadside vendors from operating on Sundays within the Shillong agglomeration until further orders.
Pharmacies and pharmaceutical stores are the only exemptions.
“The order is necessitated based on the report received that a large number of shops, roadside markets and vendors in the city are operating on Sundays, which attract sizeable crowds at a single point and, as per reports received and inspections conducted, Covid-19 protocols of physical distancing, hand hygiene, mask wearing, etc are not being followed and the number of cases across the state is increasing and in order to prevent a surge in Covid-19 cases in the district,” a press release said today.
Meanwhile, the Deputy Commissioner also issued a letter to all headmen and community Covid management teams in the district to monitor the health of returnees to areas under their jurisdiction.
All people entering the state need to pre-register on the government’s Covid website. Those coming in from the other North East states can enter upon producing a rapid antigen test result, while those from farther afield must produce a valid RT-PCR/TruNat/CBNAAT result of a test carried out within 72 hours of entering Meghalaya. Those who are not tested before arrival will be subjected to a test either at Umling in Ri-Bhoi or Shillong and will have to undergo home quarantine or paid quarantine until the results are known.
Returnees have made up a large share of the new Covid-19 cases in the state this month. Today, 36 out of the 121 new infections were of returnees.
