The Ministry of Home Affairs on Wednesday issued the updated guidelines on coronavirus lockdown. This came a day after the lockdown was extended till May 3 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The revised set of guidelines have a section on the management of coronavirus hotspots and containment zones across the country.
Coronavirus hotspots are areas that are affected by the disease. Maharashtra and Delhi are a couple of top coronavirus hotspots in the country. Containment zones are determined within a city by the administration keeping in mind the number of Covid-19 cases emerging from a particular location. For example, Delhi has determined more than 50 containment zones in the city where coronavirus cases have been identified. These areas have been sealed and restriction of movement has been placed on residents to keep the disease from spreading any further.
“’Hotspots’, i.e., areas of large Covid-19 outbreaks or clusters with significant spread of Covid-19, will be determined as per the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), Government of India (GoI),” the release read.
In these hotspots, containment zones will be demarcated by States/UTs/District administrations as per the guidelines of MoHFW.
In Covid-19 containment zones, activities otherwise allowed by the MHA during the lockdown, will not be permitted.
“There shall be strict perimeter control in the area of the containment zones,” the MHA stated in its guidelines.
No unchecked inward/outward movement of the population in the containment zones will be allowed except for maintaining essential services and in the case of medical emergencies and law and order related duties.
MHA guidelines on lockdown
*Educational institutions, coaching centres, domestic, international air travel, train services to remain suspended till May 3.
*Cinema halls, malls, shopping complexes, gymnasiums, sports complexes, swimming pools, bars to remain closed till May 3.
*All social, political, sports, religious functions, religious places, places of worship shall be closed for public till May 3.
*From April 20 activities permitted include agricultural, horticultural, farming, procurement of agri products, ‘mandis’.
*Shops of farm machinery, its spare parts, supply chain, repairs, ‘Custom Hiring Centres’ related to machinery to remain open from Apr 20.
*Manufacturing units of pharmaceuticals, medical devices, construction of medical infrastructure to remain open from Apr 20
*Highway ‘dhabas’, truck repairing shops, call centres for govt activities to remain open from April 20.
*Wearing of masks compulsory in public places across country in wake of COVID-19 situation.
*Grocery stores, fruit, vegetables shops or carts, milk booths, poultry, meat and fish shops to remain open during lockdown.
*Services provided by self-employed electricians, IT repairs, plumbers, motor mechanics, carpenters to be allowed from April 20.
*Exemptions given from April 20 will not be applicable in COVID-19 hotspots or containment zones. PTI
*The guidelines say select industrial and commercial activities will be allowed after April 20 in those areas which are not designated as containment zones.
*The guidelines also stipulate the norms to be followed by industrial and commercial establishment, including sanitisation of the premises with human-friendly disinfectant and social distancing.
*It says the activities would continue to be allowed till the zone or districts do not slip back to containment zone.
