Guwahati, Apr 27 (IANS): The Assam government on Monday allowed standalone shops in rural areas to open and also continued to permit inter-district movement of people stranded due to the lockdown till May 2.

Assam Chief Secretary Kumar Sanjay Krishna, in a tweet, said that only standalone shops in rural areas in green and orange zones, except containment areas, would be open.

"No Bazar or haat (markets) would be open. For urban areas, it would be reviewed on May 3. No rural shops within five km of the boundary of 'Red Zone' would be allowed," he said.

State Parliamentary Affairs Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary told the media in Guwahati that the state government extended the inter-district movement of the stranded people till May 2 in private and public transport with prior approval from the authorities concerned, specially the Deputy Commissioners of the districts.

The decision of travel within the state was taken during a meeting of the state cabinet, chaired by Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal. The meeting followed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's video conference with Chief Ministers of various states.

Of Assam's 33 districts, five districts -- Golaghat, Nalbari, Marigaon, Dhubri and Goalpara -- in the red zone. Assam so far reported 35 Covid-19 positive cases while one patient has died, 27 have been discharged from hospitals and 7 are still recovering. Besides, a 33-year-old trader from Nagaland's Dimapur has been undergoing treatment at the Guwahati Medical College and Hospital since April 12.

Meanwhile, Sonowal announced an insurance cover of Rs 50 lakh for journalists in Assam who are engaged in covering the Covid-19 pandemic amid the lockdown.

An Assam government official also said that to deal with the economic crisis, the Assam government would soon announce some austerity measures to cut government expenditures.