Lockdown Extended Till May 31 To Contain COVID-19; MHA Issues Guidelines

NEW DELHI: The nationwide lockdown has been extended till May 31, an order by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) read on Sunday.

The Authority has directed National Executive Committee (NEC) to issue modifications in the COVID-19 guidelines, keeping in view the need to open up economic activities, while also containing the spread.

The Ministry Of Home Affairs (MHA) has issued the following guidelines:

Activities/Places That Will Continue To Remain Prohibited/ Closed:

All domestic travel, metro rail services, educational institutions, hotels and restaurants, cinema halls, gyms, swimming pools, assembly, gatherings or congregations, all religious places.

Activities That Shall Be Permitted With Restrictions, Barring Containment Zones:

Inter-state movement with States/UTs agreement, intra-state movement, Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for movement of persons will remain in place.

The states and UTs will delineate red, green and orange zones taking into consideration the parameters shared by the health ministry. Within red and orange zones, containment and buffer zones will be demarcated by district authorities.

In the containment zones, only essential services shall be allowed. Intensive contact tracing, house-to-house surveillance and other clinical interventions will be undertaken in these zones.

Curfew:

Curfew will remain in place from 7pm-7am except for essential activities. Section 144, that prohibits assembly of three or more persons will remain in place.

Persons above 65 years of age, with co-morbid conditions, pregnant women, and children below 10 years will need to stay at home.

Aarogya Setu app:

District authorities have been instructed to advise individuals to use the app and update their health status. Employers are also asked to ask their employees to install the app.

On movement of goods:

All states/UTs are asked to allow inter-state and intra-state movement of health professionals without any restriction as well as all types of goods/cargo, including empty trucks.

The number of COVID-19 cases in India rose to 90,927 on Sunday morning and the toll went up to 2,872. The country has recorded the biggest single-day surge with 4,987 new cases and 120 deaths in the last 24 hours, according to the health ministry's update.

Meanwhile, states - Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu - have already extended lockdown till May 31. Punjab and Mizoram have also extended lockdown till May 31.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his address to the nation on Monday, had said that the lockdown 4.0 will have a "completely different form", with new rules.

Also Read: Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu Announce Lockdown Extension Till May 31