Highlights:
- Lockdown 5.0 until 30th June
- MHA announced major relaxations with Unlock 1.0
- Many services will now no longer be locked
On 30th May 2020 the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) announced that India will go under the 5th lockdown however, there will also be Unlock 1.0 as many services will be allowed to resume their operations.
The Union Home Ministry has laid down some guidelines which will have to be followed religiously during Unlock 5.0, but before that let us take a look at how Unlock 1.0 will work.
In Unlock 1.0 re-opening will be done under a phased manner.
Unlock 1.0 Guidelines and Other Details
In areas which are no longer “containment zones” will no longer have restrictions, which means all activities will be permitted except the following, which will be allowed in a phased manner with the stipulation of following Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) which will be prescribed by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW).
Phase I
The following activities will be allowed from the 8th of June, 2020:
- Religious places/ places of worship
- Hotels, Restaurants and other Hospitality services
- Shopping Malls
Phase II
All the educational institutions including Schools, Colleges, Educational/ Training/ Coaching institutions and other will only be opened after consultation with the States and the Union Territories (UTs).
State Governments and UT Administration may hold consultations at the institution level with parents and other stakeholders and based on the feedback a decision will be taken on the re-opening of the same which will be taken in July 2020.
Phase III
The dates for resuming the following activities will be decided based on the assessment of the situation:
- International commercial passenger flights, except the ones permitted by MHA
- Metro Rail services
- Cinema Halls, Gymnasiums, Swimming Pools, Entertainment Parks, Theaters, Bars and Auditoriums, Assembly Halls and other similar places.
- Social/ Political/ Sporting/ Entertainment/ Academic/ Cultural/ Religious Functions and other large congregations
Coming to Lockdown 5.0 which will last until 30th June 2020 the MHA has given relaxations on night curfew, which means that people will now be able to remain outside for longer. The new timings for night curfew are between 9:00 PM and 5:00 AM.
The Containment Zones will have to follow Lockdown 5.0 and they will be determined by the District authorities after taken into considerations the guidelines put down by MoHFW.
Aarogya Setu app will still be mandatory and people work in offices, workplaces, employers will have to make sure that Aarogya Setu app has been installed on devices of each and every employee.
Wearing a face-mask or face-cover will be compulsory in public places, workplaces and during transport. Even social distancing will have to be followed which means people will have to maintain a distance of 6 feet between themselves.
Large public gathering will continue to remain prohibited and a maximum of 50 people will be allowed in marriage related functions and for funerals and last rites no more than 20 people will be allowed.
The government also advised that Work From Home (WFH) should be followed as much as possible. For all the other details, please follow the official release of MHA: https://www.mha.gov.in/sites/default/files/MHAOrderDt_30052020.pdf
