Nagaland to continue lockdown till further orders

The Nagaland government has decided to continue with the coronavirus lockdown till further orders, a top state bureaucrat said on Monday.

"The existing guidelines with regard to the lockdown in all parts of the state issued on May 4 will continue to remain operative till further orders," Chief Secretary Temjen Toy said. The fourth phase of the nationwide lockdown ended on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio told reporters here after a cabinet meeting that his government will start the process of sending returnees who tested negative for COVID-19 to their respective districts.

A large nunber of returnees are at different government quarantine centres in Dimapur and Kohima districts, officials said. Seven people from Chennai had tested positive for COVID-19 in the state on Sunday, taking the total number of cases in Nagaland to 43, they said.

On reports of a person who was in quarantine in Kohima being sent to his home district in Tuensang while his tests results are awaited, Rio said a judicial inquiry has been set up to look into the matter. He also said an empowered committee for COVID-19 related activities has been constituted in Monday's cabinet meeting.