Amid Delta variant surge, Manipur imposes a 10-day complete lockdown from July 18

Imphal, July 16: In the view of the wide prevalence of the Delta variant of COVID-19, the Manipur government has decided to impose a total curfew for 10 days starting from July 18.

"There is a need to take stringent measures to break the chain of transmission. Therefore, the State government has decided to declare a total curfew from July 18, 2021, for ten days," the health department said.

Also Read | Centre collaborates with WHO, UNICEF to accelerate vaccination among tribals

Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh in tweet said, all the institutions, except the essential services, will remain closed during the curfew period. Further, only the people coming out for vaccination and testing will be permitted to venture out.

"All are requested to cooperate in tackling COVID-19," the health department said. The announcement came amid at the time when the Manipur has reported its highest single-day surge over the past few days. The state, in the last 24 hours, recorded 1,104 fresh COVID-19 cases, taking the cumulative number of active and positive cases to 8,210 and 80,521 respectively.

Also Read | Ahead of I-Day, Delhi Police prohibits drone, paraglider activity in NCT

Additionally, over 17 people succumbed to the virus in the state, while a total of 70,985 patients have recovered from the disease.