Telangana, TN, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Maha Extend Lockdown Till June 30

HYDERABAD: As lockdown 4.0 ends today, May 31, the Ministry of Home Affairs on Saturday announced that a complete lockdown that would continue till June in areas identified as COVID-19 containment zones across the country. It also said that restrictions would be lifted in a phased manner.

However, several states, including Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh, Telangana, Punjab, have declared that they will extend lockdown in their respective states till June 30 to contain the spread of COVID-19.

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Sunday said that the lockdown has been extended till June 30 and restrictions for inter-state travel have been removed.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami announced extension of the COVID-19 lockdown till June 30 but announced significant relaxations, including resumption of limited public transport except in Chennai, Kancheepuram, Tiruvallur and Chengalpattu and non-containment zones.

Maharashtra, the worst-affected COVID-19 state in India on Sunday also extended lockdown till June 30. The Uddhav Thackeray led government issued guidelines for phase-wise easing of restrictions. Called ‘Mission Begin Again’, normal activities will gradually restarted in the worst affected cities of Maharashtra. However, containment zones will remain closed.

BJP's Jai Ram Thakur led government in Himachal Pradesh extended lockdown till June 30. Earlier, the district magistrates of Hamirpur and Solan had issued orders extending the curfew in their areas up to June 30. Hamirpur has been one of the worst-affected districts in the state.

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh announced a four-week extension of the coronavirus lockdown in the state till June 30, saying the threat of COVID-19 was not over yet and he would continue with tough measures, if necessary, to save lives of the people. Singh, however, said his government will take into account the Centre's guidelines on the lockdown.

In Madhya Pradesh, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said the lockdown in the state to contain coronavirus will be extended till June 15.

The West Bengal government extended the lockdown by two more weeks till June 15, but also announced some conditional relaxations June 1 onwards, including for allowing TV and cinema production activities.

In Mizoram also, the lockdown will continue for two more weeks to curtail the coronavirus spread, the state's health minister R Lalthangliana said. Though Mizoram has no single active case as of now after its lone COVID-19 patient was discharged from hospital on May 9, the government wants to extend the lockdown to prevent the virus spread as cases are increasing in neighbouring states and stranded migrants are still returning to the state, he said.

India reported a record daily jump of 8,380 new coronavirus cases on Sunday, taking the total to 1,82,143 infections, according to the union health ministry. The toll stood at 5,164. The country is now the ninth most-affected in the world.

Within India, Maharashtra is the worst hit state, while Gujarat, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan are among other badly hit places.