Lockdown till May 17, curbs eased in safe areas

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 1

To contain the spread of Covid-19, the government today decided to extend the nationwide lockdown by another two weeks from May 4 but announced “considerable relaxations” for districts falling in green and orange zones. The third phase of the lockdown will continue till May 17 with the lockdown 2.0 ending on May 3.

In a statement, the government said, “After a comprehensive review, the Ministry of Home Affairs has issued an order under the Disaster Management Act, 2005, to further extend the lockdown for a period of two weeks beyond May 4.”

Based on the risk profiling of the districts into red (hotspot), orange and green zones, the new MHA guidelines have “permitted considerable relaxations in the districts falling in the green and orange zones” from May 4.

The green zones are districts with either zero confirmed cases or no confirmed case in the last 21 days. The districts which are neither defined as red (hotspot) zones nor green have been classified as orange zones.

The MHA order said, “A limited number of activities will remain prohibited throughout the country irrespective of the zones. These include travel by air, rail and inter-state movement by road. “The movement of individuals for all non-essential activities would also remain strictly prohibited between 7 pm and 7 am,” the new guidelines said, adding that in all zones, persons above 65 years of age, persons with co-morbidities, pregnant women and children below the age of 10 years should stay at home except for essential requirements.

What all is allowed

Red Zone

• Agriculture activities, sowing, harvesting, procurement
• Animal husbandry, inland, marine fisheries
• Health services, air ambulances
• Banks, e-commerce for essential goods
• Public utilities, power, water, telecom services
• Industrial, construction work in rural areas
• Courier, postal services
• Media, IT services
• Services by self-employed except barbers
• All shops except malls

Orange Zone

• Taxi aggregators with 1 driver, 1 passenger
• Inter-district travel of individuals, vehicles for permitted activities
• Four-wheelers to have max 2 passengers besides driver; pillion riding allowed

Green Zone

• Buses with 50% seating capacity, bus depots can operate with 50% capacity

What remains Shut across all zones

Travel by air, rail, metro and inter-state movement by road | Educational, coaching institutions | Hotels, restaurants | Cinema halls, malls | Social, political, cultural and other gatherings | Places of worship

Liquor shops to open in orange, green zones

Shops selling liquor and paan masala will be allowed in orange and green zones. A senior MHA official said that since the revised guidelines for lockdown had done away with sale of essential and non-essential items in orange and green zones, liquor and paan masala shops would open there.

Movement by air, rail, road allowed for select purposes, as permitted by MHA

Join Whatsapp Channel of The Tribune for latest updates.