Coronavirus India Updates, 31 May: States issue guidelines for lockdown 5.0; PM Modi calls for greater caution

Lockdown 5.0, set to commence from Monday, will essentially lift the curbs in a phased manner in areas outside the containment zones. Ministry of Home Affairs Saturday evening issued “unlocking 1 guidelines” limiting the lockdown only to containment zones for a month till June 30 and revising the night curfew hours from 9 pm to 5 am. It also allowed hotels, restaurants and shopping malls to open, besides permitting all inter and intra-state movement of public and goods from June 8. 

States have, however, been given the freedom to prohibit certain activities or put suitable restrictions in their territories. At least three states including Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Punjab and Madhya Pradesh have announced the extension of lockdown till 30 June while simultaneously allowing greater relaxations. Lockdown in West Bengal has been extended till 15 June.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Sunday addressed the nation through his monthly radio programme ‘Mann Ki Baat’ and said that the road ahead in the fight against the coronavirus was a long one. Highlighting the importance of greater vigilance as a major chunk of the economy has opened up he said “there should be no laxity in maintaining six feet distance, wearing masks and staying indoors as much as possible.”

Read| Unlock 1: Malls, hotels, places of worship can reopen on June 8; bars, gyms still prohibited

Maharahstra lockdown 5.0 guidelines: places of worship, hotels, restaurants to remain closed

While the Centre has allowed shops and businesses outside containment zones to resume June 1 onwards, Maharashtra issued its own guidelines prohibiting opening of places of worship, hotels, restaurants, hospitality services, shopping malls, barber shops, spas, salons and beauty parlours across the state which worst hit by the coronavirus. However, from June 5, all markets, market areas and shops, except malls and market complexes, will be allowed to function on odd-even basis from 9 am to 5 pm. From June 8, all private offices can operate with up to 10% strength as per requirement, with remaining persons working from home. Intra-district bus services will be allowed while inter-district bus services will not be permitted.

Lockdown restrictions extended in J&K until June 8

The Jammu and Kashmir administration on Sunday extended lockdown until June 8 and said the Centre’s new guidelines on some relaxations require a fresh assessment of the spread of coronavirus in the Union Territory. The Union Home Ministry has said ‘Unlock-I’ will be initiated in the country from June 8 under which the lockdown measures imposed since March 25 will be relaxed to a greater extent, including opening of shopping malls, restaurants and religious places. However, strict restrictions will remain in place till June 30 in the conatinment zones.

Residents stand in line following social distancing as an NGO distributes ration packets during the nationwide lockdown, imposed in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic in Dharavi, Mumbai. (Express photo by Nirmal Harindran),

In an order, Chief Secretary and Chairperson, State Executive Committee, B V R Subrahmanyam said the guidelines or instructions issued on May 19 and 24 with regard to lockdown would continue until June 8. Barring 11 districts, including eight in the Valley, which were categorised as red zones, life started getting back to normal in four districts of Jammu region declared green zones and five other districts spread across the two divisions and named as orange zones on May 20.

Rajasthan: All govt, private offices to start functioning with full strength from June 1

The Rajasthan government Sunday allowed full attendance in government and private sector offices but continued with the prohibitions on opening religious places, hotels and malls in the next phase of the lockdown, starting on Monday and lasting till June 30. In fresh guidelines issued by the state at the end of lockdown 4.0, the state government also allowed private and commercial transport vehicle to carry passengers up to full capacity. The Ashok Gehlot government also permitted interstate and intrastate operation of buses, while providing that the buses would ply within the state only on specified routes and outside containment zones. The city buses, however, were yet not allowed to ply.

The guidelines said there would be no restriction on interstate and intrastate movement of people and goods and no separate pass, permission, approval or permit would be required for that.

Tamil Nadu extends coronavirus lockdown till June 30

The Tamil Nadu government Sunday announced extension of the ongoing lockdown till June 30, albeit allowing more relaxations that included partially opening up public transport and allowing more employees at the workplace. Chief Minister K Palaniswami said the curbs on religious places, inter-state bus transport, and Metro and suburban rails would continue.

Public transport will resume with reduced services from June 1, but buses will not be operated in Chennai, Kancheepurm, Tiruvallur and Chengalpet districts having the highest concentration of COVID-19 cases in the state. Private stage carriers will be allowed to operate in authorised routes, Palaniswami said.

Read| In fight against Covid, Dharavi hobbles with sanitation, health, poverty

Amarinder Singh extends lockdown in Punjab, indicated community spread

Indicating community spread of Covid-19 in Punjab, CM Amarinder Singh Saturday announced extension of lockdown in the state for another four weeks till June 30 adding that Lockdown 5.0 will be with more relaxations and the state was waiting for the guidelines from Centre to ease down the lockdown further.

CM said the threat from the pandemic was not over yet and said the government would enhance the penalty for those not wearing masks and spitting in public. (File)

“We had 23 new cases on Friday and 19 cases on Saturday which did not have a travel or contact history. These are the dangers of stage three of the virus. We have go be careful and cautious,” he said.

Chandigarh to open malls, temples, hotels to open from June 8

According to the fresh orders, the Chandigarh administration is all set to open hotels, restaurants, religious places, and malls in the first phase of opening the nationwide lockdown, from June 8 onwards, as per the guidelines issued by the Government of India. People will also be allowed to venture out from from 5 am to 9 pm, from June 1 onwards.

Read| Tourism hit by Covid-19, Kerala hopes its fight will trigger revival

Lockdown extended till June 15 in West Bengal; malls, restaurants to reopen June 8

The West Bengal government on Saturday extended the Covid-19 lockdown till June 15, but eased more curbs a day after announcing the first round of relaxations. The government said the lockdown would continue in containment zones, but activities would be restarted in other areas.

The government said the lockdown would continue in containment zones, but activities would be restarted in other areas. (Express File)

The government announced that indoor and outdoor activities such as TV and cinema production — barring reality shows, but including those meant for OTT platforms — would be allowed in non-containment areas from June 1, with maximum 35 people per unit at a time. Shopping malls, restaurants, and hotels can reopen in these places from June 8.

Amit Shah: Wanted to ensure health infra in home states before letting migrants return

Union Home Minister Amit Shah  (PTI/File)

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday suggested that arrangements to send migrant labourers home were not made in the first phase of lockdown or earlier because the government wanted to protect them from Covid-19 and use the time to build health infrastructure in their home states.

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“We are sensitive to the migrant workers. In the first month of the lockdown, our main concern was that even if the migrant workers face some difficulty, they should be protected from Covid 19, that these people leave gradually. And when they do, all facilities in their home state are in place, the hospitals are in good shape, the quarantine facilities and doctors are ready. So we started their movement from May 1,” Shah said in an interview to Aaj Tak.

As industries open, 65000 Haryana migrants drop plans to go home

With industries opening up in Haryana following the relaxation in lockdown restrictions, almost 65,000 migrant workers in the state have decided against returning to their home states.

As many as 3.25 lakh workers have been sent to their home states from Haryana on 96 trains and 5,200 buses. (Representational)

According to officials, besides the resumption of industrial activities, many migrant labourers do not wish to return now as they work with farmers and are eyeing work opportunities in the upcoming paddy sowing season.

Read| Karnataka goes door to door to track high-risk homes