Night Curfew imposed in Meghalaya to prevent spread of COVID-19

The restriction was imposed following a sudden surge in the number of daily COVID-19 counts in Meghalaya with 32 new cases and one virus-related death reported on Tuesday.

“In view of the increase in COVID-19 cases in the country due to the highly infectious Omicron variant it is deemed necessary to take urgent measures to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus to avoid an overwhelming strain on the health system and to avoid the loss of precious lives,” Deputy Commissioner, Isawanda Laloo stated in her order on Tuesday.

Night curfew has been promulgated from 10:00 PM sharp to 5:00 AM daily in East Khasi Hills district as part of containment measures, Laloo said, adding that there will be a total ban on movement during this time.

Apart from gatherings being prohibited, weddings would be permitted with 50 percent capacity of an enclosed space and a maximum of 100 persons for an open space would be allowed.

For wedding ceremonies in places of worship, prior permission is required from the DC’s office for fresh applications. “It is strongly advised that all attendees should be fully vaccinated,” Laloo said.

Moreover, private transport within East Khasi Hills may ply on odd-even number basis with those registration numbers ending in odd number to ply on Monday and those ending in even number to ply on Tuesday.

This odd-even sequence would follow for the rest of the week, but on Sundays this rule would not be allowed. Exemptions would be given to ply only on “genuine and urgent basis.”