“Unlock4” will end on Wednesday, September 30 (archive)
New Delhi:
The center is expected to announce the guidelines for the fifth phase of easing Covid-related restrictions, or “Unlock 5,” in the coming days, as the current phase, “Unlock 4,” will end on Wednesday.
“Unlock 5” will likely go into effect the next day, Thursday, October 1, and is expected to remain in effect until October 30.
While there is considerable speculation about what will and will not reopen, the Uddhav Thackeray-led government in Maharashtra has prepared guidelines for reopening restaurants starting October 1.
Dinner service at restaurants in Maharashtra, the country’s hardest-hit state, has been closed since the first closure in March. The restaurants (outside the containment zones) had been “unblocked” in July, but the state chose not to do so given the high number of active cases and the daily increase.
Under “Unblocking 4”, metro train services have been restarted (in a staggered fashion) across the country, and social, political, academic, sporting, religious and other functions are allowed with an increased limit of 100 attendees.
The swimming pools and indoor movie theaters, however, remain closed.
Metro services in major cities were reopened in stages with an emphasis on cashless or contactless travel, social distancing, and the use of masks and disinfectants.
Previously, subway services had been stopped and the number of people on duty was limited to 50, as part of the government’s attempts to limit physical contact between people and prevent the infectious coronavirus from spreading further.
“Unlocking 4” also allowed schools across the country, which had been closed since the first Covid shutdown in March, to partially reopen as of September 21.
The guidelines issued by the Home Office said that students between grades 9 and 12 could attend school in staggered shifts to clear up teachers’ doubts, as long as these schools were outside the containment zones and had permission to parents.
The ministry also said that up to 50 percent of teachers and non-teaching staff could return to schools (while the required hygiene protocols are observed). The rest, the ministry added, could continue with online classes, as has become the norm in the pandemic.
However, the gradual reopening of schools was not made mandatory, so some regions, including the national capital Delhi, opted to keep them closed this month. However, some others, such as Assam, Nagaland and Haryana, chose to reopen schools, in accordance with the centre’s guidelines.
Last month, the center issued guidelines for “Unlocking 3” (August 1-31) that ended the night curfew and allowed gyms and yoga institutes to reopen. All other restrictions, particularly those involving large concentrations, were maintained.
Both “Unlock 3” and “Unlock 4” emphasized that inter-state travel is now allowed without the need for prior permission or e-pass.
India has registered around 80,000 new Covid cases per day so far this month; 82,170 were registered in the last 24 hours, government data showed this morning. The country has recorded more than 60 lakh of cases since the Wuhan pandemic began in China in December last year.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi imposed a strict lockdown, potentially the tightest in the world, in March, but the move left the economy in dire straits and prompted the government to initiate a series of “lockouts” that began in June.
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