Lockdown 5.0: Here’s how ‘Unlock 1’ guidelines will play out in states/UTs

Explained: Lockdown 5.0: Here’s what you must know

Some activities, however, will continue to remain prohibited. These include international air travel of passengers; operation of Metro Rail; cinema halls, gymnasiums, swimming pools, entertainment parks, theatres, bars and auditoriums, assembly halls and similar places; and, social/ political/ sports/ entertainment/ academic/ cultural/ religious functions/ and other large congregations. “In Phase III, dates for their opening will be decided based on assessment of the situation,” the MHA guidelines said. It also reduced the night curfew hours from 9 pm to 5 am (7 pm to 7 am earlier)

Now, let’s see how lockdown will play out in different States/UTs

Delhi

Partially open malls, restaurants and hotels with strict social distancing norms and reduced capacity, and permission to operate salons and barber shops with ample space between customers. These are among the changes that Delhi can expect over the coming weeks, with the Centre moving to significantly ease curbs after Lockdown 4.0 ends Sunday. Read more here

Maharashtra 

All markets, market areas and shops, except malls, will be allowed to open in Maharashtra from June 5 on the odd-even basis in non-containment zones as the state government on Sunday announced phase-wise reopening under the “Mission Begin Again”. However, religious places, shopping malls, hotels and restaurants will continue to remain closed. While the state government has extended the lockdown till June 30, it preferred the new nomenclature as “Mission Begin Again”, a day after the Centre announced significant relaxations under ‘Unlock 1’. Read more here

Maharashtra remains the epicentre of the novel coronavirus outbreak in the country, reporting over 65,000 cases and 2,197 deaths so far.

Uttar Pradesh

The UP government on Sunday allowed interstate travel but left it to the district administrations of Ghaziabad and Noida to take a call on the movement of people from adjoining New Delhi. In guidelines on the next phase of the coronavirus lockdown, Uttar Pradesh Chief Secretary R K Tiwari said, “There is no ban on interstate and intra-state movement by persons or goods.”

The order added that there is no need for a separate approval or an e-permit for this. But at the same time, the order said there will be a ban on the movement of people from the containment areas in Delhi to the NCR areas of Gautam Buddh Nagar and Ghaziabad. Later in the evening, it was announced that Noida-Delhi borders would remain sealed. The decision was taken by the administration after consulting with health and police departments.

Covid-19 Isolation ward at GTB Hospital in New Delhi on Saturday. (Express Photo by Praveen Khanna)

“The district administrations in consultation with police and the Health Department will issue separate orders for their respective areas as per the guidelines of Union Ministries of Home and Health and Family Welfare,” he said.

Karnataka

The Karnataka government has lifted restrictions on the inter-state and intra-state movement of people and goods as it laid the roadmap for easing lockdown in a phased manner outside the containment zones. In keeping with the directives of MHA, Chief Secretary T M Vijay Bhaskar issued an order, which will immediately come into effect and “will be in force up to June 30, 2020.”

“No separate permission/approval/e-permit will be required for such movements,” the order read.

In the first phase, religious places and places of worship for public, hotels, restaurants and other hospitality services and shopping malls will be allowed to function from June 8. Whereas, in the second phase, a decision to open schools, colleges, educational, training, coaching institutions will be taken in July after consulting with the stakeholders. Based on the feedback, a decision on re-opening of these institutions will be taken in the month of July, 2020,” the order read.

The government will take a call on resuming international air travel of passengers, metro rail, cinema halls, gymnasiums, swimming pools, entertainment parks, theatres, bars and auditoriums, assembly halls and similar places based on the assessment of the situation. The night curfew hours have been relaxed further. Instead of 7 pm to 7 am, the night curfew will be effective from 9 pm to 5 am throughout the state except for essential activities. In the containment zones, lockdown shall continue to remain in force till June 30, the order said adding that only the essential activities will be allowed there.

Chhattisgarh

The Chhattisgarh government said inter-state travel without requisite permission from authorities will continue to remain prohibited. For resuming inter-state and intra-state bus services, a separate order will be issued by the transport department, officials said.

Chhattisgarh General Administration Department secretary Kamalpreet Singh issued fresh guidelines on Sunday evening in view of the MHA’s directive to extend lockdown in containment zones till June 30, along with easing of restrictions in other segments, a public relations department official said.

“As per the guidelines, ban on inter-state transport of people will remain in effect as earlier. People will have to get an e-pass for inter-state travel. Similarly, people will have to apply for e-pass for inter-district travel,” he said.

Work under MGNREGA goes on in Samnapur village of Chhattisgarh’s Kabirdham district. (Express Photo)

“All sports complexes, stadiums, parks, restaurants, hotel-bars and clubs will remain shut till June 7 in the state. In containment zones, only essential services will be allowed. Plying of commercial autorickshaws and taxis have been allowed across the state except in containment zones from May 28,” he added.

The state government had already allowed opening of all non-prohibited shops and establishments six days a week from 7 am to 7 pm across the state, except those located in shopping malls and containment zones.

Telangana

Extending the lockdown in containment zones till June 30, the Telangana government lifted the restrictions on inter-state movement of people. Certain restrictions currently in force in non-Containment Zones would however remain extended till June 7.

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao instructed the officials concerned to strictly implement the lockdown in the Containment Zones, an official release said, adding that night-time curfew would be implemented daily from 9 PM to 5 AM. Shops would be allowed to remain open only till 8 PM, it said. “No shops/establishments, except hospitals and pharmacies, will remain open after 8 PM,” the release said.

Hyderabad: A medic takes a special lift meant for medics and patients of coronavirus at Gandhi Hospital in Hyderabad. (PTI Photo/File)

A senior official of the state-run Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) said the government has not yet taken a decision on plying inter-state bus services.

On May 27, Rao had announced extension of lockdown till May 31, with several relaxations, as per which all shops in Hyderabad, except malls, were allowed to open from May 28. State-run Road Transport Corporation buses were exempted from night time curfew restrictions and allowed to ply to their destinations. Taxis, autos and other passenger vehicles were also allowed to run services.

Rajasthan

The Rajasthan government allowed full attendance in government and private sectors but continued the ban on opening religious places, hotels and malls in the next phase of the lockdown, starting on June 1 and lasting till June 30. It also allowed private and commercial transport vehicle to carry passengers up to their full capacity, but no more.

The Ashok Gehlot government also allowed interstate and intrastate operation of buses, while providing that the buses would ply within the state only on permitted routes and outside containment zones. The city buses, however, were yet not allowed to ply. 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.

The movement of individuals for all non-essential activities shall remain strictly prohibited between 9 pm to 5 am across the state. Only essential activities will be allowed in containment area where cases have been detected in recent past, the guidelines said, while allowing no relaxation within the containment, hotspots or curfew-bound areas.

Jammu and Kashmir

The Jammu and Kashmir administration extended the coronavirus lockdown until June 8 and said the Centre’s new guidelines on some relaxations require a fresh assessment of the spread of COVID-19 in the Union Territory. 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.

Tamil Nadu

The Tamil Nadu government extended the ongoing lockdown till June 30, albeit with more relaxations that included partial opening up of public transport and allowing more employees at workplaces. Chief Minister K Palaniswami said the curbs on places of worship, all kinds of religious gatherings, inter-state bus transport and Metro and suburban train services will continue. Tourists entry will remain banned into the hilly Nilgiris district and Kodaikanal and Yercaud towns, while hotels and resorts, except for accommodating health and police personnel and government staff for quarantine purpose, will be closed.

Public transport will resume with reduced buses from June 1 barring in Chennai and adjoining Tiruvallur, Kancheepuram 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.

Reaching out: Two women offer food to another in Chennai. (Source: PTI)

The government allowed more employees to join work in software firms and private companies, but kept the containment zones out of the purview of any relaxation. It also announced a number of other relaxations, barring containment zones, and these include allowing more employees at the workplaces and permitting showrooms and jewellery shops to re-open. The major relaxation, resumption of public transport, will be implemented from Monday onwards in six of the eight zones, formed by combining nearby districts, with a slew of guidelines in place. For example, Zone I will have Coimbatore and its nearby districts of Tirupur, Nilgiris, Erode, Karur, Salem and Namakkal in western Tamil Nadu.

As per the guidelines, only 50 per cent of the fleets of buses will be operated that too with a passenger cap of 60 per cent of the seated capacity. There would be no need for people to apply for e-pass to travel within the zones, the chief minister said, adding, all kinds of vehicles can ply in these select routes. E-pass will be compulsory for inter-zone and inter-state travel, Palaniswami said.

Schools, colleges and research institutions will remain shut but online classes would be allowed, he said. The cap of 50 people in weddings and 20 in funerals and bar on opening of malls will also continue. Curbs on cinema theatres, gyms, swimming pools, bars, large community halls, tourist centres, zoological parks and museums shall remain in force as it existed so far.

Hotels and restaurants can start dine-in services from June 8 in line with the Centre’s guidelines, as against takeaways so far, but only 50 per cent of the seats should be occupied. So would be the case with tea shops. Grocery and vegetable shops can function from 6 am to 8 pm.

Hire taxies can ply in the transport zones with three passengers and the number of passengers in autorickshaws was limited to two. The government was more liberal in areas beyond the Greater Chennai Police limits, allowing, among others, 100 per cent staff strength in companies and software firms, although it adviced 20 per cent of IT employees can be encouraged to work from home. Eateries, shops selling groceries and vegetables can function from 6 am to 8 pm while liquor outlets operated by the state-run TASMAC will remain open from 10 am to 8 pm. E-commerce firms can supply non-essential commodities, he said.

West Bengal

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 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.

In a notice, the Kolkata Municipal Corporation said shops selling non-essential products would reopen in 46 city markets from Monday. These shops can remain open from 10 am to 5.30 pm. The government clarified that tea gardens and jute mills would be allowed to operate at full strength from June 1. MSME and large industrial operations, including mining and construction activities, are also allowed at full strength from that day.

“Intra-state movement of… buses with effect from June 1, with passengers not more than the actual seating capacity [will be permitted]…” said an order.

With inputs from PTI