Unlock 1: The government has allowed the reopening of shopping malls, hotels, restaurants, and other hospitality services along with the places of religious worship to people from June 8, however, these facilities will not be able to resume operations inside containment zones designated by authorities in states and additionally, the resumption of these activities is conditional to the standard operating procedures to be released by the ministry of health and welfare, said a government notification.
All activities banned earlier will open up in phases, the home ministry said in new guidelines on Saturday, a day before the current phase of lockdown ends.
“Ministry of health and family welfare will issue Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for the above activities in consultation with the Central Ministries/Departments concerned and other stakeholders, for ensuring social distancing and to contain the spread of Covid-19,” said the government order released by the ministry of home affairs.
Restaurants that have seen a huge slump in business will see additional relief from the latest relaxations as they can now open for dine-in business after a gap of over two months. Restaurants were earlier given permission for take-aways and online deliveries. However, restaurants said they will await clarity on state-specific guidelines. ” Fundamentally, we are happy to restart. But we have to first look at the new guidelines that various states will come up with,” Anurag Katriar, president, National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI) said.
Strict orders enforced on March 25, when the country went into a total lockdown to break the chain of transmission of the virus, will be limited to containment zones – areas sealed because of a large number of COVID-19 cases – at least till June 30.
Night curfew will stay, but timings will be changed to 9 pm-5 am from the existing 7 pm-7 am.
Among those that continue to remain prohibited are:
- International travel of passengers
- Operation of metro
- Cinema halls
- Gyms
- Swimming pools
- Entertainment parks
- Theatres
- Bars
- Auditoriums
- Assembly halls
- Social/politica/sports/entertainment/academic/cultural/religious functions/ and other large congregations.
Cinemas, schools, and international flights will reopen after an assessment in the next few weeks. A decision on reopening schools and colleges will be taken in July after consultations with states, parents, and other stakeholders.
There will be no restrictions on the movement of people or goods within states and between states and significantly, interstate passes will no longer be needed. But states can decide whether to regulate movement based on their own.
“The current phase of re-opening, Unlock 1, will have an economic focus,” said the government, a day after GDP data showed the slowest pace of growth in 11 years and a big impact of the lockdown on the latest quarter.
\International flights, metros, cinemas, gyms, swimming pools, entertainment parks, theatres, and bars will also be allowed after more consultations in June “based on the assessment of the situation”, said the ministry.
Social, political, religious, cultural and other gatherings also stay banned for now, given the unabated need for physical distancing to check the infection.
