Bhubaneswar: The Ministry of Home Affairs, which issued order to further extend the lockdown May 31, on Sunday issued new guidelines with considerable relaxations in the restrictions.
Prohibited activities
—All domestic and international air travel of passengers, except for domestic medical services, domestic air ambulance and for security purposes or purposes as permitted by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
—Metro rail services.
—Schools, colleges, educational/ training/ coaching institutions etc. will remain closed. Online/distance learning shall continue to be permitted and shall be encouraged.
—Hotels, restaurants and other hospitality services, except those meant for housing health/ police/ Government officials/ healthcare workers/stranded persons including tourists and for quarantine facilities; and running of canteens at bus depots, railway stations and airports. Restaurants shall be permitted to operate kitchens for home delivery of food items.
—All cinema halls, shopping malls, gymnasiums, swimming pools, entertainment parks, theatres, bars and auditoriums, assembly halls and similar places. Sports complexes and stadia will be permitted to open. However, spectators will not be allowed.
—All social/political/sports/entertainment/academic/cultural religious functions/other gatherings and large congregations.
—All religious places/places of worship shall be closed for public. Religious congregations are strictly prohibited.
Permitted activities
The following activities shall be permitted with restrictions, except in the containment zones
—Inter-state movement of passenger vehicles and buses, with mutual consent of the States and Union Territories involved.
—Intra-state movement of passenger vehicles and buses, as decided by the States and Union Territories involved.
—Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for movement of persons will continue.
The MHA also said delineation of Red, Green and Orange Zones will be decided by the respective state and Union Territory governments, after taking into consideration the parameters shared by Ministry of Health & Family Welfare.
