The Union Home Ministry has announced the guidelines for Unlock 2.0 which will come into force from July 1. The government has to restart more activities outside the containment zones while maintaining a strict lockdown inside the containment zones. While certain states like Maharashtra, West Bengal, and Tamil Nadu have decided to continue the lockdown till July 31, the Central Government has continued the phased reopening of activities across the country.
According to the guidelines issued by the Union Home Ministry, the following activities will be allowed in the new phase of Unlock:
1. Domestic flights and passenger trains will continue to operate in the country while their operations will be further expanded in a “calibrated manner”.
2. Further relaxation in the curfew timings has been made, the new timings being 10 PM – 5 AM. These relaxations have been made for easier operations of “industrial units in multiple shifts, movement of persons and goods on national and state highways, loading and unloading of cargo and movement of persons to their destinations after disembarking from buses, trains and airplanes”.
3. Depending upon the size of the area, more than 5 people at one time, can be present inside a shop while maintaining a proper physical distance.
4. Training institutions of the central and state government will be allowed to function from July 15 for which SOP will be issued by the Department of Personnel and Training.
5. Under the Vande Bharat mission, international air travel shall be allowed in a limited manner. Further opening-up, again, shall be done in a “calibrated manner”.
On the other hand, the following restrictions shall also be placed under Unlock 2.0:
1. After extensive consultations with all the states and Union Territories, all schools, colleges and coaching centres shall remain closed till July 31.
2. Metro rail services, cinema halls, gyms, swimming pools, entertainment parks, theatres, bars, auditoriums, assembly halls, and similar places shall also remain closed until further notice.
3. Large congregations of social, political, academic, cultural or religious or any other sort shall not be allowed.
All these activities shall be reopened on separate dates after a thorough assessment of the situation while strict lockdown shall persist in all the containment areas. Such containment areas shall be demarcated by and for all the states and UTs and only essential activities shall be allowed there. “However, there shall be no restriction on inter-state and intra-state movement of persons and goods. No separate permission/approval/e-permit will be required for such movements.”
