SILCHAR, May 12 - Additional Deputy Commissioner Sumit Sattawan said on Monday that based on evidential proof of violation of lockdown- associated norms by not wearing of face masks by the staff of a local medicine store, the administration has closed the shop as a punitive measure till the present phase of lockdown ends.
�The administration will take a tough stance against those vendors or shopkeepers who are found to violate the lockdown norms,� the ADC maintained.
Medicine stores, as a part of medical system are essential service providers during this crisis hour. But if people of the medicine store violate norms by not wearing face masks while dealing with customers at the store, and do not understand the seriousness of the situation, how do we expect others to comprehend the condition.
Earlier, another shop was shut down for violating lockdown norms, he added.
On the other hand, following the new Government guidelines on COVID-19, the Cachar district administration and Health department has made it compulsory for screening and throat swab sample test for each passenger belonging to southern Assam districts and coming back home from places outside the North East.
Suman Choudhury, District Media Expert of NHM informed the media on Monday that those who are entering the region through the inter-state border at Digarkhal, Lailapur and Jirighat are being taken to ISBT for collection of their throat swab samples for conducting the COVID-19 test.
�Barring the existing ten COVID-19 positive cases (all Ajmer-returned passengers) from Cachar and one case from Karimganj, there have been no new positive cases detected during the past two days. Passengers from places outside the North East who reached the district during the past two days have undergone throat swab sample test, and thankfully, all of them have been found to be negative.
In the meantime, a district-level committee has been formed for discharging the passengers who have tested COVID-19 negative. The process, it may be mentioned, has already been initiated.
�We urge the people not to panic and shun fake information of any kind related to COVID-19 and cooperate with the Government agencies,� Choudhury said.
