By the end of January, we will reach the peak of the third wave, the chief minister said.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma officially announced that Assam is reeling from the third wave of the pandemic. The Omicron variant of COVID-19 has hit the state from January 1 and now the government will treat all coronavirus cases as patients of the highly infectious new variant, the chief minister said.
Addressing a press conference in Guwahati, Sarma said the doubling rate of cases is two days and on some occasions, it's even a single day. "So we assume that there are lots of Omicron cases in Assam at this moment. We have now decided to consider all positive cases as Omicron and will treat them accordingly," he said.
Announcing new restrictions, the chief minister said the night curfew timing has been advanced to 10 pm from 11:30 pm now and it will continue till 6 am, besides wearing of masks made compulsory.
"All schools in Assam up to class 5 will be closed from tomorrow and this will be up to class 8 in Guwahati. The rest of the classes will take place on a rotational basis on every alternate day," he added.
Sarma also said that except for hospitals, only fully vaccinated people will be allowed in public places like hotels, restaurants, cinema halls, government offices, buses and malls.
( With PTI Inputs)