Two days before the second phase of the nationwide lockdown was scheduled to end, the Centre announced that it will extend the lockdown by another two weeks, starting May 4. The decision was taken after a comprehensive review with lockdown to continue till May 17.
A top Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) official told India Today TV, “The third lockdown is aimed to give economic stimulus to all zones within the country including Red zones. The emphasis on Phase III of lockdown is to get back to business, but with some cautions.
The extension announced on Friday will see maximum relaxations, which will be regulated, based on the spread of the virus in the districts identified as Red (hotspot), Green, and Orange zones.
The Green zone will have maximum relaxations, while Red will have maximum restrictions. Economic activities will be allowed in all zones including the Red zones.
Containment zones will, however, get no relaxation. The local authority will have to ensure 100 per cent coverage of AarogyaSetu App among the residents of the containment zones. However, any movement by air, rail, and road is allowed for selective purposes permitted by the MHA.
Movement of individuals, for all non-essential activities, will remain strictly prohibited between 7 pm and 7 am. The MHA also issued new guidelines to regulate different activities during this period, based on the risk profiling of the districts in Red, Green and Orange zones.
The guidelines have permitted considerable relaxations in districts in Green and Orange zones. The Green zones will be districts with either zero confirmed cases till date or with no confirmed case in the last 21 days.
The classification of districts as Red zones will be based on the total number of active cases, doubling rate of confirmed cases, and the extent of testing and surveillance feedback from the districts. Districts that are neither defined as Red nor Green will be classified as Orange zones.
The extension will, however, see some relaxations which will be regulated based on the spread of the virus in districts falling in the three zones.
The local authorities will have to issue orders under appropriate provisions of law, such as prohibitory orders (curfew) under Section 144 of CrPC for this purpose and ensure strict compliance. In all zones, people above 65 years of age or with comorbidities, pregnant women, and children below the age of 10 years will stay at home, except for meeting essential requirements and for health purposes.
Out-patient departments, medical clinics will be permitted to operate in Red, Orange and Green zones with social distancing norms during the lockdown round 3.
The decision to extend the lockdown by two more weeks from May 4 came amid a continuous rise in the number of people testing positive for the coronavirus infection across various states, including in major metropolitans, according to officials on Friday
