The Meghalaya government on Friday decided to allow 15 per cent of local taxis to operate in Shillong from June 28, Chief Minister Conrad Sangma said. The taxi operators will, however, have to display their COVID-19 vaccination certificates on their vehicles.
The decision was taken at a review meeting during the day in line with an order of the Meghalaya High Court which upheld the need to display the vaccination status of those running shops or operating commercial vehicles, officials said.
“15% of public transport (local taxis) will be allowed to operate in Shillong from 28th June 2021. Declaration of ”vaccinated” or ”non-vaccinated status of drivers will need to be displayed on the vehicles,” the chief minister tweeted.
Restaurants and hotels will be allowed to open but only for home delivery and takeaways.
In rural areas, hotels and tea shops will be allowed to open but cannot serve food inside the tea stalls, the chief minister said.
At the COVID-19 review meeting, Sangma also said that kits with essential items will be provided to COVID-19 patients staying in Corona Care Centres.
State Chief Secretary M S Rao had said last week that that the lockdown in the state had been extended till further orders as the number of COVID-19 cases was “still very high”.
Earlier the lockdown was supposed to end on June 21.
Meanwhile, Meghalaya on Friday recorded seven COVID-19 fatalities and 602 new cases pushing the death toll to 814 and the caseload to 47,480.
At present, there are 4,665 active coronavirus cases in the state.
Health Services director Aman War said 354 people have recuperated from the viral infection in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of recoveries to 42,001.
The state has conducted over 6.73 lakh tests as of date, he said.
Till Thursday, a total of 6.4 lakh people have been inoculated in the state, of whom 75,900 have received both doses of the vaccine, War said. PTI
