Sikkim: How proactive measures since March 5 made this the only coronavirus-free state in India

Gangtok: The coronavirus pandemic has wreaked havoc all over the world and confirmed cases have lately picked up at a faster rate in India. With an average of around 3,500 cases in the country over the past 10 days, India is set to touch the 1 lakh mark very soon.

Almost all states and Union Territories in the country have been blanketed by the deadly Covid-19 virus and even the Director of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Dr Randeep Guleria, said that India would peak in June-July.

However, one picturesque state in the north-eastern part of India has evaded the threat of the illness – Sikkim.

The fortress of this tiny Himalayan state has reported zero cases in the three-month period of the outbreak and a lot of that credit goes to the state government’s stringent measures to restrict the entry of tourists and suspension of entry permits for others.

A slew of proactive measures taken by the state since March 5 include the prohibition of tourist entries, suspension of issuance of permits for Nathu La, along with the highly-talked about and effective Inner-line Permit (ILP) for foreign tourists.

The Sikkim Krantikari Morcha-led government of Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang has also temporarily stopped the Sino-India trade near the Nathu La International Border.

“The state government had to initiate stern and timely measures to contain the outbreak of COVID-19 and the results are in front of everyone,” a senior official told news agency PTI.