Travel to night curfew: Lockdown 5.0 rules aim to open up country

Home Ministry guidelines focus is on economy as containment zones stay under restrictions.

lockdown, coronavirus, Health workers
Religious places, hotels, restaurants and shopping malls will be allowed to reopen from June 8 in phase 1 under guidelines issued by the union health ministry.
BS Web Team New Delhi
2 min read Last Updated : May 30 2020 | 8:27 PM IST
The government on Saturday extended a weeks-long lockdown to contain the coronavirus in places worst affected by the disease's outbreak, allowing "phased re-opening" elsewhere.

Here is what is allowed, and what is not, according to the union home ministry’s new guidelines called "Unlock 1".

  • Religious places, hotels, restaurants and shopping malls will be allowed to reopen from June 8 in phase 1 under guidelines issued by the union health ministry.
  • Schools, colleges, and other educational institutions will be opened in phase 2 "after consultations" with states and union territories (UT), according to the guidelines. A decision on reopening educational institutions would be taken in July after states and UT take "feedback from parents and stakeholders"
  • Phase three will fix dates for re-starting international air travel, Metro Rail services, cinema halls, gymnasiums, swimming pools, entertainment parks, theatres, bars and auditoriums, assembly halls and similar places. Dates will also be decided for social/ political/ sports/ entertainment/ academic/ cultural/ religious functions and other large congregations.
     
  • Night curfew timings will be changed to 9 pm to 5 am from 7 pm to 7am. Between 9 pm and 5 am, "movement of individuals shall remain strictly prohibited".

  • Containment zones, places with a high number coronavirus cases, will continue under lockdown till June 30. Government authorities in districts will "demarcate" these zones following the union health ministry’s guidelines.
  • No separate permission, approval or e-permit will be required for inter-state or intra-state movement of people and goods.
  • States and UTs will be free to "prohibit certain activities" outside containment zones, allowing them to make their rules. "The current phase of re-opening, Unlock 1, will have an economic focus," said the guidelines.

Topics :CoronavirusHome Ministry

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