Centre on Sunday extended the COVID-19 lockdown for two more weeks till May 31 with relaxations are likely completly to open the economy with the operation of all markets, offices, industries and business along with plying of buses in all zones, barring containment.
Domestic and international flights and metro rail will remain out of bounds for the general public even as shopping malls, cinema halls, schools, colleges, hotels and restaurants, and religious and political gatherings will continue to remain prohibited. Crucially, the government has allowed inter-state movement of buses and private vehicles with the consent of the involved states. The move will greatly ease public transportation and is likely to come to immediate help of migrant labour on the roads. The night curfew, between 7 pm and 7 am, will continue in all zones.
Furthermore, states and Union Territories (UTs) have been given powers to delineate the Red, Green and Orange zones as per the Covid-19 situation and inter-state movement of passenger vehicles, buses have been allowed with mutual consent of states. District authorities have been directed to demarcate ‘containment’ and ‘buffer’ areas within Red and Orange zones as per Union Health Ministry guidelines.
The nationwide lockdown was first imposed for 21 days starting March 25 and then extended on April 15 and later on May 4 with an aim to stem the spread of novel coronavirus (Covid-19). As India entered the 54th day of the lockdown, the total number of coronavirus cases in India surpassed China’s tally with 90,927 infections and death toll soared to 2,872 on Sunday. China, which has a total of 84,649 cases, stopped adding new cases for the last two months now, while India has been detecting almost 4,000 cases every day for the last few days.
Workplaces should ensure employees have Aarogya Setu app installed: MHA
With a view to ensuring safety in offices and workplaces, employers on best effort basis should ensure that Arogya Setu is installed by all employees having compatible mobile phones, says Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
District authorities have been asked to advise individuals to install the Aarogya Setu application on compatible mobile phones & regularly update their health status on the app. This will facilitate timely provision of medical attention to those individuals who are at risk.
Special directions to ensure movement of persons and goods in certain cases
- A) All states/UTs shall allow inter-state and intra-state movement of medical professionals, nurses, and para medical staff, sanitation personnel and ambulances, without any restriction.
- B) All states/UTs shall allow inter-state movement of all types of goods/cargo, including empty trucks.
- C) No state/ut shall stop the movement of any type of goods/cargo for cross land-border trade under treaties with neighbouring countries.