India on Saturday announced a three-phased “unlocking” of India from COVID-19 restrictions with the reopening of religious places, hotels and malls from June 8 while keeping containment zones under strict Lockdown 5.0 till next month-end.
A decision on reopening educational institutions will be taken in July while a call on international air travel and opening up of metro services and cinema halls will be taken later after an “assessment of the situation”.
With Lockdown 4.0 coming to end on Sunday, the ministry also removed restrictions on movement of individuals traveling across state lines between the hours of 5 a.m. and 9 p.m.
A night curfew, which prohibits the movement of individuals for all non-essential activities, remains in place.
According to the BBC, the news comes as the country registers a record rise of infections in a single day, with nearly 8,000 cases reported on Saturday — thought relatively India has been hit less hard than many countries.
India went into lockdown in late March, shortly after the number of COVID-19 cases passed 500.
Official data suggests that the strict measures prevented the loss of between 37,000 and 78,000 lives.
As of Saturday afternoon, the nation of 1.3 billion registered just over 180,000 confirmed cases, including 5,185 deaths.
More than 80% of the active cases are found in five states, while more than 60% of them are concentrated in five cities, including Mumbai and Delhi.
“Unlock 1” will have an economic focus, the Times of India reported.
List of activities allowed from June 1
1. Interstate movement of people and vehicles without the requirement of e-permit
2. Intrastate movement of people and vehicles
3. Movement of any type of goods and cargo for cross land-border trade
4. Night Curfew timing relaxed, it will now be observed between 9 pm and 5 am
Condition – A state or UT can still restrict the movement of people based on reasons of public health provided it gives wide publicity in advance regarding the restrictions and the procedures to be followed.
List of activities allowed from June 8- Unlock 1
1. Religious places of worship like Temples, Mosques, Gurdwaras and Churches
2. Shopping Malls
3. Hotels and Restaurants
4. Remaining hospitality sector
Condition – The reopening of above places will be governed by social distancing norms and other regulatory measures that will soon be released by the Union ministry of health and family welfare.
List of activities that may be allowed in July- Unlock 2
1. School and Colleges
2. Educational institutions
3. Training institutions
4. Coaching institutions
Condition– A decision on the reopening of educational institutions mentioned above will be taken in July after states and UTs consult stakeholders.
List of activities to be opened in Unlock 3
1. Regular international air travel
2. Metro rail services
3. Cinema Halls
4. Gymnasiums
5. Swimming pools
6. Entertainment parks
7. Theatres
8. Bars
9. Auditoriums
10. Assembly Halls
Condition- The government has not set a date for reopening the above activities mentioned under phase-3/ unlock-3 and the home ministry order says that a date for their reopening will be decided after “assessment of the situation.”
Activities allowed in containment zones from June 1
Only essential services like grocery, bakery, medicine, vegetables.