Covid-19 outbreak: India’s Guwahati under ‘total lockdown’ from Monday

The north eastern state of Assam today announced a "total lockdown" in its capital city Guwahati from Monday for the next two weeks to cope with a sharp surge in new coronavirus patients in the last ten days.

The state will enforce a "complete lockdown" in other towns and municipal areas on weekends from tomorrow every week; only emergency services will be allowed.

Next week, only pharmacies and hospitals will be allowed to open in the city, Assam Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma told reporters.

A 12-hour night-curfew -- between 7:00pm and 7:00am -- will be enforced across the state from today, he added.

Guwahati has recorded over 700 new infections since June 15, which prompted the state to take the decision. Of 276 fresh infections reported in the state on Thursday, 133 were from Guwahati, Sarma said.