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The Hindu
The Hindu
National
The Hindu Bureau

COVID-19 cases down, Assam to reopen completely from Feb. 15

A family looks at a “Meji” showing corona vaccination on the occasion of Magh Bihu in Thekeraguri, in Morigaon district of Assam. File (Source: The Hindu)

Significant drop in the number of COVID-19 cases has made the Assam government decide to remove all restrictions from February 15.

Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the Class 10 and 12 board exams, municipal polls, by-election to the Majuli Assembly seat and the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council elections would be held in the next two months.

“Students appearing for the exams must be fully vaccinated,” he told journalists on Monday.

Mr. Sarma said the government would lift night curfew and allow cinema halls, shopping malls and other such set-ups to operate with full capacity from mid-February. There would be no restrictions on wedding hours on condition that the hosts and guests wear masks and were fully vaccinated.

The Chief Minister also appealed to organisers of the mid-April Rongali or Bohag Bihu programmes not to harass traders and businessmen for donations.

“The traders have suffered a lot during three COVID waves and many of them committed suicide. It is not nice for us to celebrate our traditions by demanding donations from them,” he said.

He announced financial assistance of ₹1.5 lakh to each committee that has been organising the Rongali Bihu programmes for the past 10 years or more. Rongali Bihu could not be celebrated publicly in Assam in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic.

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