Guwahati, May 11 (PTI) Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday chaired the first meeting of the cabinet in which the 13-member council of ministers discussed in detail the prevailing COVID-19 situation.

The meeting felt the need to impose certain restrictions which will be announced by the state Chief Secretary on Wednesday, spokespersons Keshab Mahanta and Pijush Hazarika said.

After being sworn-in as the chief minister the previous day, Sarma had said controlling the "alarming" COVID-19 situation in the state is his first priority.

The chief minister will also depute the ministers to two districts or more to review the COVID situation in the districts and submit a report within three days, based on which a decision on an economic package will be taken in the next cabinet meeting.

Like other parts of the country, Assam is also witnessing a surge in coronavirus cases.

According to the latest health department bulletin, the state has a total of 2,98,171 COVID cases. There are 37,500 active caseload in the state at present.

It was also decided that for the first time in the state, the cabinet will meet on every Wednesday from 11 a.m to 1 p.m.

If on any Wednesday, the chief minister is out of station, the cabinet will meet on the same day at the same time next week.

The cabinet also decided to constitute two committees to prepare reports on providing employment opportunities to one lakh youths and to waive off the micro finance loans taken by women, Mahanta and Hazarika. both ministers, along with the newly appointed Political Secretary Jayanta Malla Baruah, have been appointed as the government spokespersons who will brief the media after every cabinet meeting.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)