Lockdown to continue in Containment Zones till 30 June, everything to start

New Delhi: The fifth stage of lockdown has been announced in the country. On Saturday, the union home ministry announced the fifth stage of the lockdown. The union home ministry has issued new guidelines for non-containment zones for this stage, in the notification. Everything has been allowed to start outside the containment zones. Therefore, places of worship, hotels and malls also will start. The interstate travel restrictions to also be withdrawn.

Now, a major part of the country may be freed from the lockdown. The lockdown imposed given the Coronavirus pandemic, had severely affected the financial transactions in the country. The union government had relaxed many of the restrictions in the fourth stage of the lockdown. Efforts had started to revive the economic activities in the green and orange zones. Now, in the fifth stage, it has been decided to remove all restrictions, in zones outside the containment zones. The union home ministry has announced new guidelines for this stage of the lockdown.

Although the lockdown has been relaxed outside the containment zones, all the activities will start in a phased manner. Wearing of masks and following social distancing norms will be mandatory even in the lockdown free zones. Senior citizens above the age of 60 and children below the age of 10 have been advised to stay indoors. The rules for attendance at weddings and funerals will be the same.

In the first phase, places of worship, restaurants and malls will be allowed to open in non-containment zones, from 8th June. But there will be a ban of organising functions. The schools and colleges also will remain closed, for some more time, even outside the containment zones. The decision regarding this will be taken in the next phase, starting in July. A decision to start international air travel, metro rail, cinemas, Gymnasiums, swimming pools, entertainment parks, bar and auditoriums also may be taken in that phase. The union home ministry said that there would a fresh assessment of the situation by the union government before making this decision.

Lockdown continues in the Containment zones, where Coronavirus cases have been found. The relaxations will be made in phases in these regions. But this will depend entirely on the situation in those zones. The final decision on the implementation of guidelines issued by the union home ministry is in the hands of the state governments.