UNLOCK 7: Nagaland govt announces more relaxations

Morung Express News
Dimapur | September 28

The Government of Nagaland has decided to relax existing COVID-19 lockdown measures and guidelines following a meeting of the High Powered Committee (HPC) on COVID-19 at the Nagaland Secretariat on September 28.

The state government has been announcing the unlocking process in a phased manner since July 1 and the current ‘Unlock 6’ will end on September 30, government spokesperson Neiba Kronu informed late on Tuesday night.

Terming it as the ‘Unlock 7’ phase, Kronu who is also the Minister for Planning & Coordination, Land Revenue and Parliamentary Affairs, said that church services and other social gatherings including sporting events can now resume across the state subject to adherence to existing COVID-19 appropriate behaviours issued by the government from time to time. These relaxations would be in place throughout the month of October, he added.

The government also decided to relax the night curfew by one hour and keep it in force from 10:00 pm to 4:00 am, Kronu added.

While the government announced on September 16 that regular classes for students of class 5 to class 10 with 50 per cent attendance and adherence to the provisions of the standard operating procedure would be allowed from October 1, the spokesperson said on Tuesday that the government is expecting reopening of all schools and educational institutions by November 1, “if situation improves and more people receive vaccination.”

In this regard, he said that a total of 10,17,511 people (18 years and above) have been vaccinated against COVID-19 as on September 26.

Kronu also added that appropriate instructions would be given to school authorities and they would have a period of one month to prepare for the reopening.

With regard to the timings for keeping shops and other business establishments open, Kronu said the general timing was from 6:00 am to 6:00 pm but respective district task forces would have to determine appropriate timings based on the situation in their jurisdictions.

Responding to queries about the Hornbill Festival, the spokesperson stated that the festival is still on the table. However, details regarding the number of days or the restrictions that would be in place and other logistics would be discussed separately on another day.