Partial lockdown extended in Jharkhand, weekend shutdown to return

RANCHI: The state government extended partial lockdown by yet another week till June 24 and declared that a complete lockdown will b observed during the forthcoming weekend. The current phase of partial lockdown (health safety week) will end at 6am on June 17 (Thursday).
On Tuesday, chief minister Hemant Soren chaired the meeting of the State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) at Project Building to evaluate the status of unlocking in view of the decline in Covid-19 cases. Health minister Banna Gupta, chief secretary Sukhdev Singh and disaster management department secretary Amitabh Kaushal, among others, attended Tuesday’s meeting.
Weekend lockdown 2.0 will come into force from 4pm on Saturday (June 19) and will be over on Monday (June 21), IPRD department informed the media in a communiqué. Last week, too, the state government had enforced complete lockdown during the weekend to break the chain of Covid transmission.
“Except medicine and milk shops, all other shops like those selling vegetables, grocery items and fruits will remain shut during the weekend lockdown,” an official said.
Under fresh relaxations, malls and departmental stores have been allowed to operate till 4pm like other establishments. The government also allowed public and private offices to function with 50% attendance till 4pm on weekdays. At present, offices were functioning with 1/3rd of staff strength.
Garments and jewellery shops in East Singhbhum have also been permitted to operate till 4pm like their counterparts in other districts. Till now, these shops were not allowed to function in East Singhbhum district owing to the high amount of caseload.
Inter- and intra-state movement of buses, however, will have to wait for some more time. Cinema halls, gymnasiums, parks, recreation centres, too, have not been allowed to reopen. All kinds of educational institutions will function through the online mode. For marriage ceremonies, a gathering cap of 11 persons will be in force and 20 persons are allowed to attend funerals. Prohibitory orders are in place for hosting of fairs, exhibitions, rallies, religious and political congregations and gathering of more than five persons are banned in the state, as per the order.
Talking to reporters, minister Banna Gupta said that although they have managed to effectively contain the second wave of the pandemic, the state government was unlocking the economy in a phased manner to ensure that the situation does not go out of hands again. “The government has been focusing on balancing livelihoods and lives right from the beginning, since it first announced the lockdown on April 22. As the situation is improving, the government is taking appropriate decisions,” he said.