The Indian home ministry on Wednesday said that new guidelines to fight COVID-19 will come into effect from 4 May, giving ‘considerable relaxations to many districts.’ The MHA said that details regarding the new relaxations will be ‘communicated in the days to come.’
The MHA spokesperson said in a series of tweets, “MHA held a comprehensive review meeting on the #lockdown situation today. There’ve been tremendous gains & improvement in the situation due to lockdown till now.To ensure that these gains are not squandered away, the lockdown guidelines should be strictly observed till 3rd May.”
New guidelines to fight #COVID19 will come into effect from 4th May, which shall give considerable relaxations to many districts. Details regarding this shall be communicated in the days to come.#coronavirus update#StayHomeStaySafe@PMOIndia @HMOIndia @MoHFW_INDIA
— Spokesperson, Ministry of Home Affairs (@PIBHomeAffairs) April 29, 2020
Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a nationwide lockdown in India in two stages. The 40-day lockdown will end on 3 May. The prime minister had recently held a video conference with various chief ministers to review the lockdown.
Meanwhile, the countrywide death toll related to the coronavirus pandemic stood at 1,008 with positive cases exceeding the 30,000 mark.
In a separate communication, the MHA also allowed the movement of stranded migrant workers from different parts of the country. These workers were stuck due to the sudden announcement of a nationwide lockdown last month.
The MHA notification said that all persons will be medically screened at source and destination, adding that they will be kept in ‘home/institutional quarantine’ on arrival, as per the ministry of health and family welfare guidelines. The MHA order said, “The moving person(s) would be screened and those found asymptomatic would be allowed to proceed.”
The order also said that social distancing will be maintained while deciding the seating arrangement inside buses, which will be sanitised before their use.