Aggressive' restrictions in Meghalaya from May 1; total lockdown not in the cards: CM
Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Friday said that the government has no plans of imposing a complete lockdown in the state but it is going for "aggressive" restrictions.
Speaking to reporters in Shillong, the CM appealed to the citizens to comply with the ten days containment measures imposed by the government even as he expressed optimism that the COVID curve will flatten in the next ten days.
“Obviously our plan is not to completely go for a full lockdown because we understand that people (need) their basic (necessities) like food and other materials. There will be certain things that will not be allowed at a few (selected) areas”, he said.
He said that a lot will depend on the people and the behaviour. “If we are able to flatten the curve in these ten days, then we will be able to overall manage the spike in the cases," he said.
The government had decided to put in place containment measures for Shillong Urban Agglomeration, Jowai town and Tura town as these three places are COVID hotspots.
The containment measures will take effect from 5 am of May 1 at 5 am to 5 am of May 10.
Financial challenge
The Chief Minister said that there will be a financial challenge as procuring the vaccine will cost Rs 90 crore in addition to the GST.
However, he maintained that it is a priority as it is an investment that will be beneficial to the people at large.
“Obviously, it is a major challenge for any state especially for the Northeast because of the resource crunch that we have. But then, this is something that needs to be done and we will not compromise on it. We will go ahead and we have already asked the company to supply us the vaccine.”
Sangma said that the Government of India is helping the state government in many ways wherein the vaccinations for the age group of 45 plus are being given free of cost by the Centre to the states.
With the country grappling with the supply of medical oxygen, the CM said that the state will get three oxygen plants from the PM Care fund.
(Edited by Ibankyntiew Mawrie)
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