Guwahati: The Ministry of Home Affairs has issued a set of guidelines for a phased re-opening for all activities as the nation emerges from the coronavirus-triggered lockdown that was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 25, and came into effect the next day.
Phase-I:
The Government will ease restrictions on certain activities in areas not within the containment zones from June 8 onwards:
Religious places and other places of worship will be opened to the public; hotels, restaurants, and other hospitality services shall also be re-opened in this phase. Shopping malls shall also be reopened.
The latest MHA guidelines
Phase-II:
Schools, colleges, educational, training, and coaching institutions will be opened after consultations with the states and Union Territories. The administrations should hold consultations with the concerned stakeholders. Based on this feedback, a decision on re-opening these institutions will be taken in the month of July.
Phase-III:
The dates for reopening the following activities will be decided based on the assessment of the situation:
International air travel of passengers, except as permitted by the Home Ministry; metro trains; cinema halls, gymnasiums, swimming pools, entertainment parks, theatres, bars and auditoriums, assembly halls, and similar places.
Social, political, sports, entertainment, academic, cultural, religious functions and other large congregations.
Meanwhile, the national directives for containing the spread of the virus have to be adhered to, the MHA said. The lockdown was first announced by the Prime Minister on March 24 for 21 days in a bid to slow the spread of the disease. It was first extended till May 3 and then again till May 17. On May 17, the MHA further announced a phase lockdown that will last till Sunday, May 31.