With Covid-19 confirmed cases rising to five in Manipur within just two days between May 14 night and May 16, the state government has reviewed its strategy to fight spread of the deadly pandemic, including extension of the lockdown till May 31 and testing of all those who returned from outside the state.

Following the spike in the number of active cases, the state government has decided to cancel all paper curfew passes earlier issued by the district magistrates of Imphal East and Imphal West and vehicle passes issued by the government authorities on Saturday.

In an office memorandum issued on Saturday, chief secretary, J. Suresh Babu said that in respect of the two Imphal districts, a counter would be opened at the gate of the old secretariat complex and all applications for curfew passes should be addressed to the deputy secretary (home).

Passes will be issued electronically through the mobile numbers of the applicants and no physical pass will be issued.

Besides, curfew pass will be issued to individuals electronically and no bulk passes will be issued.

Two persons who had been to Mumbai for treatment and returned home by hiring a bus tested positive for Covid-19 while a 22 year-old woman from Churachandpur tested positive too.

She returned from Chennai on the same train that brought 1,140 Manipuri students and workers on Wednesday. A 31-year-old man from Imphal East, who also returned from Mumbai and a 22-year-old nurse from Kamjong district who returned from Calcutta, tested positive on Friday.

What surprised many including civil society organisations was that the same memorandum of the chief secretary barred people or organisations from distributing essential commodities to people during the lockdown and those who desire to do so may donate the materials to the “food bank” opened by the respective deputy commissioners.

Convener of the Committee of Civil Societies of Kangleipak (CCSK), an apex body of different civil society organisations, Jeetendra Ningomba said: “Nobody knows the existence of the food bank and how it can distribute essential commodities to the needy people who have been facing extreme difficulties due to the lockdown.”

On Saturday, the Covid-19 Consultative Committee meeting, chaired by chief minister N. Biren Singh, had recommended extension of the lockdown and strict enforcement in the notified areas.

Exemptions may be given to agriculture activities, works under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), micro, small and medium enterprises, (MSME) with social distancing norms in rural areas, the committee recommended.

The committee also recommended testing of all people who returned from outside and to keep them in quarantine centres till the test results are received.