The Government has extended the nationwide lockdown to contain coronavirus by two more weeks. But, this time there are some relaxations. Union Ministry of Home Affairs under the directions of National Disaster Management Authority issued on Friday a fresh set of guidelines for the third phase of nationwide lockdown.

 

Based on the risk profile, the districts across the country are divided into three zones i.e. Red (hotspot), Orange and Green Zones.

 

1. Green Zone – Districts with Zero confirmed cases till date or with no confirmed cases in last 21 days.
2. Red (Hotspot) Zone – Take into account total number of active cases, doubling rate of confirmed cases, extent of testing and surveillance feedback from the districts.
3. Orange Zone – Districts which are neither defined as Red zone nor Green zones, shall be Orange zones.

The restrictions under the new guidelines issued are as follows:

Prohibitions in all zones

• All forms of public transport – air, mail, metro and inter-state movement by road.
• Schools, colleges, and other educational and training/coaching institutions. However, online/ distance learning shall be permitted.
• Hospitality services other than those used for housing health/ police/ Governemnt officials/ healthcare workers.
• All Social/ Political/ Cultural/ Sports/ Entertainment/ Religious functions or gatherings.
• All religious places/ places of worship.
• Places of large public gatherings such as Cinema halls, malls, gymnasiums and sports complexes.

In all zones, persons above the age of 65 years of age, persons with co-morbidities, pregnant women and children below the age of 10 years shall stay at home, except for meeting essential requirements and health purposes.

 

Activities in Red Zones

1. In addition to those activities prohibited throughout the country, following activities shall not be permitted. These are:

• Intra-district and inter-district plying of public transport including buses, taxis rickshaws etc.
• Parlours, spas and salons.

2. The following activities shall be permitted with restrictions as specified:

• Movement of individuals and vehicles is allowed only for permitted activities, with a maximum of 2 persons (excluding driver) in four wheeler vehicles and with no pillion rider on two wheelers
• Industrial establishments in urban areas – SEZs, Export Oriented Units, manufacturing units of essential goods, including drugs, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, their raw material, manufacturing of IT hardware; jute industry with staggered shifts, industrial estates and industrial townships with access controls have been permitted taking care of social distancing.
• Construction activities in urban: Only in-situ construction (where workers are available on site and no workers are required to be brought in from outside) and construction of renewable energy projects.
• E-commerce activities are permitted only in respect of essential goods.Shops in urban areas, for non-essential goods, are not allowed in malls, markets and market complexes. All standalone (single) shops, neighborhood (colony) shops and shops in residential complexes are permitted to remain open in urban areas, without any distinction of essential and non-essential.All government offices can function with senior officers of the level of Deputy Secretary and above at 100% strength. The remaining staff will attend upto 33% as per requirements. However, Defense and Security services, Health and Family Welfare, Police, Prisons, Home Guards, Civil Defence, Fire and Emergency Services, Disaster management and related services, National Informatics Centre (NIC), Customs, Food Corporation of India (FCI), National Cadet Corps (NCC), Nehru Yuvak Kendra (NYK) and Municipal services shall function without any restrictions; delivery of public services shall be ensured and necessary staff will be deployed for such purpose. Private offices can operate upto 33% strength as per requirement, with remaining persons working from home.
• All health services (including AYUSH) are to remain functional, including transport of medical personnel and patients through air ambulances. Public utilities, e.g., utilities in power, water, sanitation, waste management, telecommunications and internet will remain open, and courier and postal services will be allowed to operate.

Activities in Orange Zones

1. In addition to those activities prohibited throughout the country, following activities shall not be permitted:

• Inter-district and intra-district movement of buses.

2. The following activities permitted with restrictions are:

• Taxis and cab aggregators, with 1 driver and 2 passengers only.
• Inter-district movement of individuals and vehicles only for permitted activities. Four wheeler vehicles will have maximum two passengers besides the driver.

Activities in Green Zones

1. All activities are permitted in Green zones, except those activities that are prohibited throughout the country.
2. Buses can operate with 50% seating capacity.
3. Bus depots can operate with 50% capacity.

Other Permitted activities
All goods traffic is to be permitted. No State/ UT shall stop the movement of cargo for cross land-border trade under Treaties with neighboring countries. No separate pass of any sort is needed for such movement, which is essential for maintaining the supply chain of goods and services across the country during the lockdown period.

However, States/UTs, based on their assessment of situation, and with the primary objective of keeping the spread of COVID-19 in check may allow only select activities from out of the permitted activities, with such restrictions as felt necessary.

 

Penal Provisions

Any person violating these lockdown measures and the National Directives for COVID-19 management will be liable to be proceeded against as per the provisions of Section 51 to 60 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005, besides legal action U/s 188 of IPC and other legal provisions as applicable.

 

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