“The Interior Ministry (MHA) today issued an order to extend the reopening guidelines, issued on 09/30/2020, to remain in force until 11/30/2020,” a government-issued statement read.
Guidelines issued last month had allowed movie theaters, pools for sports training and meetings to reopen with restrictions.
While most activities have been allowed, some activities involving large numbers of people have been allowed with some restrictions and are subject to Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) that are followed regarding health and safety precautions. . These activities include: subway, shopping malls, hotels, restaurants, hospitality services, religious places, yoga and training institutes, gyms, cinemas; entertainment park, etc.
Reopening of activities outside containment zones
Since the government’s first order of lockdown measures was issued on March 24 of this year, almost all activities have gradually opened up in areas outside the containment zones.
With regard to certain activities, which have a relatively higher degree of risk of coronavirus infection, the State / UT governments have been allowed to make decisions for their reopening, based on the assessment of the situation and subject to SOP. These activities include: schools and training institutes, state and private universities for research scholars, which allow meetings above the 100 limit, etc.
After the latest guidelines issued, the following activities have also been allowed but with certain restrictions.
1) International passenger air travel as permitted by MHA.
2) Pools for the training of athletes.
3) Showrooms for Business to Business (B2B) purposes.
4) Cinemas / theaters / multiplex cinemas up to 50% of their capacity.
5) Social / academic / sports / entertainment / cultural / religious / political functions and other congregations, in closed spaces with a maximum of 50% of the capacity of the room and with a maximum limit of 200 people.
5) Further decisions regarding the above activities will be made based on the assessment of the situation.
Appropriate behavior for Covid
Great caution is necessary in adopting the appropriate Covid-19 behavior by all citizens in their daily routine. Prime Minister Narendra Modi released a ‘Jan Andolan’ on October 8 on the appropriate behavior of the coronavirus to follow three mantras. Those are:
- Wear your mask correctly
- Wash your hands frequently
- Keep a safe distance of 6 feet
MHA has already advised the Secretaries / Chief Administrators of all States / UTs that they should endeavor to promote appropriate Covid-19 behavior widely at the grassroots level and take steps to enforce the use of masks, hand hygiene and social distancing.
National directives for the management of Covid
National Directives for handling coronavirus will continue to be followed throughout India, to enforce appropriate Covid-19 behavior.
Strict enforcement of lockdown in containment zones
The blockade will continue to be strictly implemented in the Containment Zones until November 30 of next month.
The Containment Zones will be delimited by the District authorities at the micro level after taking into consideration the guidelines in order to effectively break the chain of transmission. Strict containment measures will be applied in these containment zones and only essential activities will be allowed.
Within containment zones, strict perimeter control will be maintained and only essential activities will be allowed.
These Containment Zones will be notified on the websites of the respective District Collectors and by the States / UT, and the information will also be shared with the MOHFW.
States should not enforce any local lockouts outside of containment zones.
State / UT governments will not impose any local closures (state / district / subdivision / city / town), outside of the containment zones, without prior consultation with the central government.
No restrictions on interstate and intrastate movement
There will be no restriction on interstate and intrastate movement of people and goods. No separate electronic permission / approval / permission will be required for such moves.
Protection of vulnerable people
Vulnerable people (people over 65, people with comorbidities, pregnant women, and children under the age of 10) are advised to stay home, except for essential requirements and for health reasons.
Using the Aarogya Setu app
The use of the AarogyaSetu mobile application will continue to be encouraged.
Meanwhile, India reported 36,469 new Covid-19 cases today, a day after witnessing the lowest daily increase in cases in the past three months. India’s total virus case count has now risen to more than 79 lakh.
The country has seen 488 deaths in a 24-hour span, bringing the total number of deaths from coronavirus to 1.19,502. Active cases in India have also dropped to 6.25,857 after 27,860 more people recovered in the last 24 hours.
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