India Lockdown 5.0 LIVE Updates: Arun, a factory worker, walks with his family to board a bus from Ghaziabad to Kanpur on Saturday. (Express photo by Praveen Khanna)
Lockdown 5.0 Guidelines & Rules LIVE Updates: On the first day of unlock 1.0, Kerala allowed buses to ply in neighbouring districts with adequate safety measure including wearing masks and using sanitisers. Although the government permitted shootings for films and soap operas, outdoor shoots have not been allowed.
Meanwhile, authorities in Kashmir were mulling to reopen schools, which have been closed due to the coronavirus-induced lockdown, in the valley from the middle of June this year. Amid the surge in cases, Delhi sealed its borders for a week. Only those people providing essential services will be allowed to cross, the Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said.
The unlock 1.0, however, will play out differently in most states as they have been given the freedom to prohibit certain activities if they deem fit. But they cannot water down the Centre guidelines. On Sunday, a day before lockdown 4.0 expires, Tamil Nadu announced that it would be extending the lockdown till June 30.
Lockdown 5.0 Guidelines & Rules LIVE Updates: The deserted look of Mumbai iconic monuments like CSMT, Hutatma Chowk, Marine Drive’s Queens Necklace, and Gateway of India. (Express photo by Prashant Nadkar)
Superstar Shah Rukh Khan’s NGO Meer Foundation has come forward to help the baby whose video trying to awaken his dead mother at the Muzaffarpur railway station in Bihar went viral on social media, PTI reported. The video last week was among the most heart-wrenching images to have emerged out of the massive migrant crisis during the coronavirus-led lockdown in the country.
Shah Rukh on Monday said as someone who understands how it feels to lose one’s parents, his support will always be with the child. The video of the toddler from Bihar went viral on social media last week and Shah Rukh’s foundation was quick to trace the child and help him. “MeerFoundation is thankful to all who helped us reach this child, whose heart-wrenching video of trying to wake his mother disturbed all. We are now supporting him and he is under his grandfather’s care,” the NGO posted on Twitter along with the baby and his brother sitting with their grandparents. Read more interesting stories on Day 69 of the lockdown here.
Authorities in Kashmir are planning to reopen schools, which have been closed due to the coronavirus-induced lockdown, in the valley from the middle of June this year. The government schools have been asked to provide two reusable masks and a pair of hand gloves to each student while installing hand sanitisers and liquid soap dispensers at the entry point of each school, according to a letter written by the director finance in the school education department.
The government schools have been asked to provide two reusable masks and a pair of hand gloves to each student while installing hand sanitisers and liquid soap dispensers at the entry point of each school, according to a letter written by the director finance in the school education department. (PTI)
The Jharkhand govenrment Monday issued guidelines to reopen prohibited activities in a phased manner in areas outside containment zones. Chief Secretary Sukhdev Singh said that the govenrment is taking a "cautious approach" while implementing in the MHA directions for easing the lock down as migrants have entered from various other states.
"It was felt there is a need for cautious approach...as many migrants have entered the state of Jharkhand from various other states and countries severely affected by COVID-19 and at the same time it was felt necessary to open up economic acitivities and to ease out hardships faced by the people," said CS Sukhdev Singh.
Lockdown will be extended in containment zones till June 30, however, till outside these zones service centres of mobile, watches, TVs--IT related centres will be allowed to open. In district headquarter urban areas, shops selling capital goods, hardware, consumer electronics, jewelries, kitchens wares and furniture will be allowed to open up.
"Call centre of private companies, Restaurants and district head quarter urban areas--only delivery and takeaways, Intra-district plying of public transport of by auto-rickshaw,tempo, -ricksaw, mannual rickshaw among others shall be permitted," the order said. - Abhishek Angad reports from Ranchi
Life returned to near normal in many parts of Gujarat, notably in Ahmedabad, the state's worst coronavirus-hit district, as several restrictions were eased in the fifth phase of the lockdown that began on Monday. Roads bustled with traffic as people came out in large numbers to visit markets, which are now open till 7pm in all areas except in containment and micro-containment zones. (PTI)
Barber shops and parlours, public parks for morning walks, and film shooting in studios and open spaces (subject to social distancing guidelines) — allowed from June 1 in Assam.
After over two months of closure due to the coronavirus-triggered lockdown, monuments and tourists places in Rajasthan reopened on Monday with cultural events and performances by folk artistes, but there was no footfall. Tourism stakeholders have welcomed the government decision to allow reopening of these places but are also concerned as the coronavirus outbreak is still raging. "On the first day of reopening, we organised cultural performance by folk artistes at 32 monuments in the state including in capital city. It was to mark the reopening of the monuments," Prakash Chandra Sharma, Director, Department of Archaeology and Museum, told PTI.
As the COVID-19 lockdown 5.0 came into effect on Monday, the Andhra Pradesh government decided to not unlock its borders yet for inter-state movement of people and vehicles. State Director General of Police D G Sawang said that restrictions on inter-state movement of people would remain in force "till a further decision is taken." Those who need to come to AP from other states in private vehicles would have to obtain an e-pass through the government's 'Spandana' portal and undergo medical tests. "Those seeking to come from less coronavirus-affected states will be sent to home quarantine and those from highly-affected states will be sent to institutional quarantine for seven days. After that, if they test positive for COVID-19, they will be sent to hospital or, if negative, for home quarantine for further seven days," PTI quoted the DGP as saying in arelease.
Scenes from the shopping hub of Chennai: T Nagar. As per the guidelines issued by the Tamil Nadu government, jewellery and textile shops can function across the state with 50 per cent staff strength and without air conditioning. Five customers are allowed inside at a time.
Cabinet Monday approved Rs 20,000 crore subordinate debt for stressed MSMEs, this will benefit 2 lakh stressed MSMEs, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said after cabinet meeting. Union Minister Narendra Tomar said that the farmers will get more time to repay their loans, till August now.
In a sign that bed in Delhi government-run hospitals are likely to be reserved for only the city’s residents, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday sealed the national capital’s borders for a week. The decision comes against the backdrop of a consistent four-digit rise in the number of corona cases in the city since March 28. However, within the city, there will be more relaxations, the CM said, announcing the decision to allow barber shops and salons to open and lifting the odd-even restrictions from markets. Read more here
From open shops and markets and milling crowds on roads to the hustle and bustle of railway stations, a semblance of normality seemed to return in various states as the country entered the first of the three-phase unlock plan on Monday. With the government allowing unfettered movement of goods and persons within states, more vehicles were out on the roads, leading to snarls in many cities, even though public transport remained skeletal.
In Bengaluru, an increase in people and vehicle movements were seen in most parts of the city except containment zones while roads in Tamil Nadu witnessed much more traffic with the arrival of auto rickshaws and taxis. Read more here
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said all relaxations that have been allowed by central government will be allowed in Goa, other decisions regarding the relaxations will be taken in a Cabinet meeting later today. "We are not allowing inter-state transport," he told ANI.
The Chief Minister said that since Delhi’s health care services in the government sector are free and also claimed they were better than in a lot of other states, and there was a possibility that patients from outside Delhi would want to get treated in the city.
The government is worried that considering the current Covid case load – the city saw 1295 cases on Sunday and the total active cases are around 11,000 – hospitals could get overwhelmed. There are 6,600 Covid beds in city hospitals so far, of which 2586 are occupied. This is supposed to go up to 9,500 by June 5. The fear is that these will get occupied within a couple of days if free movement starts.
As the COVID-19 lockdown 5.0 came into effect on Monday, the Andhra Pradesh government has decided not to unlock its borders yet for inter-state movement of vehicles and people. State Director General of Police D G Sawang said in a release that restrictions on inter-state movement of people would remain in force "till a further decision is taken." Those seeking to come to AP from other states in private vehicles should obtain an e-pass through the government's 'Spandana' web portal and undergo medical tests. "Those seeking to come from less coronavirus-affected states will be sent to home quarantine and those from highly-affected states will be sent to institutional quarantine for seven days.
Those employed in essential services, which includes health services, municipal services, movement of vegetables, grocery and dairy items, banking operations, among others, will be allowed to cross the border. Anyone who works with the government will also be allowed into the city using only the official identity card. Those who have valid movement passes will be allowed entry. Transport options such as cabs, autos and buses have not been allowed. Only those with e-passes will be allowed movement.
Announcing guidelines for Lockdown 5.0, the Rajasthan government on Sunday said that all government offices will work with full strength from June 1 and private offices will be permitted to operate with full strength but they should encourage “work from home”.
The guidelines, issued by Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Rajeeva Swarup, will be in effect from June 1 to June 30 and, as per officials, emphasise “cautious resumption of normalcy through adequate precautionary and safety measures”. Read more here
The state government has announced relaxations in lockdown with effect from Monday and decided to allow shops located outside the containment zones to operate without any restriction of the odd-even formula.
The AMC also declared micro containment zones from new wards other than the 10 containment wards existing. These include Vatva, Indrapuri ward in the south zone; Saijpur, Bapunagar, India colony in the north zone; Viratnagar and Amraiwadi in the east zone, Ghatlodiya, Bodakdev in the north west; Sabarmati, Navrangpura, Nava Vadaj, Naranpura and Paldi in the west and Maktampura and Sarkhej in the south west zones. Read more here
Former Maharashtra Finance Minister and senior BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar has written to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray Sunday seeking a six-month extension for the sarpanches, deputy sarpanches and members of 14,314 gram panchayats across the state, whose tenure have ended, in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the state government should extend the tenure of 14,314 gram panchayats by six months. They can continue to work as a caretaker,” Mugantiwar stated in the letter. Read more here
Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday said the academic year for schools in the state will commence in June and both offline and online options should be used for it. Thackeray also approved the use of online platforms, such as Google Classroom, for teaching as the country enters the fifth phase of the lockdown amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
“The academic year must start from June. Schools should be started, wherever possible, with proper healthcare. Education should start even through the online medium,” Thackeray said at a review meeting held with the school education department. Read more here