Updated: September 30, 2020 10:57:57 pm
Healthcare personnel from a mobile medical van conduct rapid antigen tests at an ISKCON temple in Ahmedabad on Tuesday. (Express photo: Nirmal Harindran)
Unlock 5.0 Guidelines: Cinemas and multiplex cinemas will be allowed to open from October 15 with 50 percent capacity, and states and Union territories can make a decision on opening schools from the same date, based on new guidelines. unlocking issued by the Home Office on Wednesday evening. .
The guidelines also say that in higher institutions, laboratories for those seeking doctorates or postgraduate degrees in science and technology can open as of October 15, while the decision to open all universities “can be made” by the Department of Education. Superior with the MHA.
Maharashtra: Hotels, food courts and restaurants to operate at 50% capacity starting October 5
The guidelines, which also increase limits for indoor gatherings, while removing any limits on outdoor gatherings, now mean that the only thing prohibited outside the containment zones is international flights, “except where permitted by law. MHA “. India already has air bubble agreements with 13 countries.
In accordance with the new MHA guidelines, cinemas, theaters and multiplex cinemas “may open with up to 50% of their seating capacity, for which the SOP will be issued by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.”
Business to Business exhibitions are also allowed, as are “athlete-used” pools and amusement parks. All of these will have SOPs issued by their governing ministries and will be allowed as of October 15.
On reopening schools, MHA said that “State / UT governments have had the flexibility to make a decision after October 15, 2020, in a phased manner. “The decision will be made” in consultation with the management of the respective school / institution, based on their assessment of the situation. “
However, the ministry added caveats that online learning will remain the “preferred” mode of teaching and physical attendance of students cannot be enforced.
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“When schools run classes online and some students prefer to attend classes online rather than physically attend school, they may be allowed to do so. Students may attend schools / institutions only with the written consent of the parents. Attendance should not be imposed and should be entirely dependent on parental consent. States / UTs will prepare their own SOP regarding health and safety precautions for the reopening of schools / institutions based on the SOP that will be issued by the Department of School Education and Literacy (DoSEL), the Ministry of Education, the Government of the India, taking into account local requirements. “Said the MHA.
At universities, the MHA and the Department of Higher Education can make a decision, “based on the assessment of the situation.” “For centrally funded institutions of higher education, the director of the institution will ensure that there is a genuine requirement of academic researchers (doctorates) and graduate students in the science and technology stream for laboratory / experimental work,” State guidelines.
The MHA has relaxed the rules for cultural and religious gatherings that were allowed with a 100-person limit until now. “State / UT governments have now been given the flexibility to allow such gatherings beyond the 100-person limit, outside the Containment Zones, after October 15, 2020,” the MHA said.
The caveats, however, are that indoors, 50 percent of the room’s capacity will be allowed, not to exceed 200 people. At outdoor events, the size of the floor must be kept in view, although the MHA has not established a ceiling.
In both cases, masks, distancing, arrangements for thermal scanning and disinfectant are necessary. “To ensure that such meetings do not spread COVID-19, state / UT governments will issue detailed SOPs to regulate and strictly enforce such meeting,” the MHA said.
The order, while extending the blockade in the containment zones until October 31, says that state governments will not impose local blockades outside of them without consulting the Ministry. There are no restrictions on interstate and intrastate movement.
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