The Centre on Saturday issued orders extending the coronavirus lockdown in containment zones to 30 June as the toll due to COVID-19 rose to 4,971 and the number of cases climbed to 1,73,763.
It also issued guidelines for a phased re-opening of activities outside the containment zones as the fourth phase of the lockdown ends on 31 May.
A nationwide lockdown was first imposed from 25 March for a period of 21 days till 14 April. It was then extended till 3 May, then till 17 May and for a fourth time till 31 May.
Meanwhile, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, India's recovery rate rose to 47.40 percent on Saturday with 11,264 patients having recovered from the virus in the last 24 hours.
The number of active COVID-19 cases stood to 86,422 while 82,369 people have recovered and one patient has migrated, data showed.
Shopping malls, hotels to reopen from 8 June; lockdown to continue in containment zones
According to an order issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Saturday, the lockdown imposed to control the spread of the novel coronavirus will continue till 30 June in all containment zones. The order said that containment zones will be demarcated by district authorities and only essential activities will be permitted within these zones.
Additionally, no movement in or out of these zones will be allowed, except for medical reasons and for the supply of essential goods and services.
From 01.06.2020
●Within Containment Zones, #Lockdown restrictions to continue till 30.06.2020
●#Unlock1 All activities to be relaxed in phased manner outside containment zones, as per @MoHFW_INDIA guidelines
●States may impose restrictions/prohibit activities as per assessment pic.twitter.com/LDbmvf6Gfa— Spokesperson, Ministry of Home Affairs (@PIBHomeAffairs) May 30, 2020
"In the containment zones, there shall be intensive contact tracing, house-to-house surveillance and other clinical interventions as required," the order stated.
The order, termed as "Unlock-1", suggested a phased removal of restrictions in areas other than the containment zones, adding that shopping malls and hotels can be reopened in such areas from 8 June.
"In Phase I, religious places and places of worship for public, hotels, restaurants and other hospitality services, and shopping malls will be permitted to open from 8 June, 2020. Health Ministry will issue 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," the ministry said in a press release.
As per the order, a decision on the reopening of educational institutions will be taken in Phase II. "Schools, colleges, educational/ training/ coaching institutions, etc, will be opened after consultations with States and UTs. State Governments/ UT administrations are being advised to hold consultations at the institution level with parents and other stakeholders. Based on the feedback, a decision on the re-opening of these institutions will be taken in the month of July, 2020," said the order adding that the Union health ministry will prepare guidelines for ensuring social distancing in consultation with other stakeholders.
Phase-III shall consist of removing curbs on international travel, resumption of metro rail services, opening of cinema halls, gyms, swimming pools, theatres, bars, auditoriums, etc. Social, religious, political, sports, entertainment, academic, cultural events, and "other large congregations" may also be permitted.
However, the dates for re-starting these activities will be decided "after consultation", stated the orders.
All activities apart from those mentioned above will be allowed in non-containment areas but a night curfew from 9 pm to 5 am will continue to operate across the country, said the MHA. All movement will be restricted during this time and allowances will be made only for essential activities.
The government also clarified that there will be no restriction on inter-State and intra-state movement of persons and goods, and no separate permission/ approval/ e-permit will be required for such movements.
However, the Centre granted states and Union Territories leeway to impose more restrictions outside containment zones if deemed necessary.
The ministry also said that states/UTs may identify buffer zones where new cases are more likely to occur and restrictions may be imposed in such zones by district authorities.
Punjab, Madhya Pradesh extend lockdown
Separately, the Punjab government extended lockdown in the state till 30 June, with certain more relaxations in line with the guidelines of the Central government.
Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan also announced extension of lockdown in the state till 15 June while interacting with students through a video conference.
India sees increase in cases, recoveries rise too
According to the Union health ministry, in the 24 hours till 8 am on Saturday, the country reported 265 fatalities and 7,964 cases of the viral infection, taking the total number of those infected to 1,73,763 and toll to 4,971.
This is the second consecutive day that the country has registered more than 7,000 new cases. However, the recovery rate also went up with over 11,000 patients having recovered in the last 24 hours, the highest number of recoveries recorded in one day
According to the health ministry data, 11,264 patients recovered between Friday and Saturday updates, taking the recovery rate to 47.40 percent.
The health ministry, in a statement, also said that doubling rate had improved to 15.4 days in the past three days.
"As on 30 May, the doubling time in the past 14 days was 13.3, it has improved to 15.4 days in the last three days. The fatality rate stands at 2.86 percent," the statement said.
Of the 265 deaths reported since Friday morning, 116 were in Maharashtra, 82 in Delhi, 20 in Gujarat, 13 in Madhya Pradesh, nine in Tamil Nadu, seven in West Bengal, four each in Telangana and Rajasthan, two in Punjab and one each in Chhattisgarh, Jammu and Kashmir, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh.
Of the total 4,971 fatalities, Maharashtra tops the tally with 2,098 deaths followed by Gujarat (980), Delhi (398,) Madhya Pradesh (334), West Bengal (302), Uttar Pradesh (198), Rajasthan (184), Tamil Nadu (154), Telangana (71) and Andhra Pradesh (60). More than 70 percent of the deaths are due to comorbidities, the ministry said.
According to the health ministry data updated in the morning, the highest number of confirmed cases in the country are from Maharashtra at 62,228 followed by Tamil Nadu at 20,246, Delhi at 17,386, Gujarat at 15,934, Rajasthan at 8,365, Madhya Pradesh at 7,645 and Uttar Pradesh at 7,284
"5,043 cases are being reassigned to states," the ministry said on its website adding, "Our figures are being reconciled with the ICMR."
States report new cases
However, states continued reporting new cases through the day and a PTI tally at 7 pm put the total number of confirmed cases at 1,70,522 and toll at 4,799.
The coronavirus related fatalities in Karnataka rose to 49 with the death of a 47-year-old woman while 141 new coronavirus cases were confirmed on Saturday taking the infection tally to 2,922, PTI quoted state minister S Suresh Kumar as saying. Among the fresh cases, 90 are inter-state passengers, he said.
Tamil Nadu witnessed a spike of 938 new coronavirus cases on Saturday, taking the infection count to 21,184, while four men and two women died of COVID-19 pushing the death toll to 160. Of the 938 new cases, 82 were returnees from other states and a foreign country.
In Nagaland, which had remained COVID-19 free till Monday, 11 Chennai returnees tested positive on Saturday, taking the number of active cases to 36, Health and Family Welfare minister S Pangnyu Phom said. Meanwhile, in Manipur, a 19-year-old woman who returned from Gujarat recently tested positive for COVID-19, taking the total number of cases in the state to 60.
New cases were also reported in West Bengal, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, among others.
Confirmed cases in West Bengal climbed to 5,130 on Saturday after 317 more people tested positive for coronavirus, the state health department bulletin said. Seven fresh deaths due to the disease were also reported in the state, taking the toll to 237, it said.
With inputs from PTI
from Firstpost India Latest News https://ift.tt/2XiORPL
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