Lockdown extension ordered beyond May 3; check top 10 highlights of MHA order

The government on Friday extended the coronavirus pandemic lockdown beyond 4 May for two weeks, it said in a statement. The decision was taken after a comprehensive review of the lockdown measures by Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). The period of lockdown that has already passed has led to significant gains in the COVID-19 situation in the country, it was revealed and that there was a need to continue with the same for another fortnight. A number of crucial measures were announced by the new MHA Lockdown advisory and here are the top 10 highlights:

1) What will remain open and what closed: Under the new guidelines, a limited number of activities will remain prohibited throughout the country, irrespective of the Zone. These include travel by air, rail, metro and inter-State movement by road (barring exceptions); running of schools, colleges, and other educational and training/ coaching institutions; hospitality services, including hotels and restaurants; places of large public gatherings, such as cinema halls, malls, gymnasiums, sports complexes etc; social, political, cultural and other kinds of gatherings; and, religious places/ places of worship for public.

2) Who Can Move And When: Under new guidelines movement of individuals, for all non-essential activities, shall remain prohibited between 7 pm to 7 am. In all zones, persons above 65 years of age, persons with co-morbidities, pregnant women, and children below the age of 10 years, shall stay at home, except for meeting essential requirements and for health purposes. Out-Patient Departments (OPDs) and Medical clinics shall be permitted to operate in Red, Orange and Green Zones, with social distancing norms and other.

3) Cars and Bikes: Movement of individuals and vehicles is allowed only for permitted activities, with a maximum of 2 persons (besides the driver) in four-wheeler vehicles, and with no pillion rider in the case of two-wheeler in Red Zones with restrictions.

4) Shops, malls, and markets: Shops in urban areas, for non-essential goods, are not allowed in malls, markets and market complexes. However, all standalone (single) shops, neighborhood (colony) shops and shops in residential complexes are permitted to remain open in urban areas, without any distinction of essential and non-essential. E-Commerce activities, in the Red Zones are permitted only in respect of essential goods. Private offices can operate with upto 33% strength as per requirement, with the remaining persons working from home.

5) Division into zones: MHA has issued new guidelines to regulate different activities in this period based on the risk profiling of the districts of the country into Red (hotspot), Green and Orange Zones. The guidelines have permitted considerable relaxations in the districts falling in the Green and Orange Zones.

6) Districts classification: Higher population density within the Municipal Corporations (MCs) has led to higher incidence of COVID-19 cases within MC(s) than rest of the districts. Under new guidelines, such districts will be classified into two Zones - one zone for the area under MC(s) and other for the area outside. If area outside MC(s) has reported no case for the last 21 days, it will be allowed to be classified as one stage lower than the overall classification.

7) Containment areas: The Red and Orange zones designated as containment areas would be defined by respective District Administrations. These areas need to have well demarcated perimeters from the enforcement point of view. The local authority shall ensure 100 per cent coverage of Aarogya Setu app among the residents of the Containment Zone.

8) Cycle rickshaws, auto rickshaws to Cabs: In the Red Zones, outside the Containment Zones, certain activities are prohibited in addition to those prohibited throughout the country. These are: plying of cycle rickshaws and auto rickshaws; running of taxis and cab aggregators; intra-district and inter-district plying of buses; and, barber shops, spas and saloons.

9) Work order: Industrial establishments in urban areas viz. Special Economic Zones (SEZs), Export Oriented Units (EOUs), industrial estates and industrial townships with access control have been permitted. The other industrial activities permitted are manufacturing units of essential goods, including drugs, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, their raw material and intermediates. 

10) Transport: All goods traffic is to be permitted. No State/ UT shall stop the movement of cargo for cross land-border trade under Treaties with neighbouring countries. No separate pass of any sort is needed for such movement, which is essential for maintaining the supply chain of goods and services across the country during the lockdown period.