New coronavirus COVID-19 lockdown guidelines from May 4, relaxation in many places, confirms MHA

The Centre on Wednesday announced that the new guidelines to fight the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic will come into effect from May 4, a day after the current lockdown comes to an end on May 3. While there will be easing in some districts, those where a large number of cases have been found will continue to be under stringent restrictions.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) stated that the fresh guidelines will give considerable relaxations to many districts. The details regarding the relaxations will be "communicated in the days to come". The MHA held a comprehensive review meeting on the lockdown situation concluding that there have been tremendous gains and improvement in the situation due to lockdown till now. 

Taking to the micro-blogging site, Twitter, MHA Spokesperson said that the lockdown guidelines should be strictly observed till May 3 to ensure that these gains are not squandered away. The nationwide lockdown was first announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 24 in a bid to combat the coronavirus threat. It was further extended till May 3.

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. — Spokesperson, Ministry of Home Affairs (@PIBHomeAffairs) April 29, 2020

"New guidelines to fight COVID-19 will come into effect from May 4, which shall give considerable relaxations to many districts. Details regarding this shall be communicated in the days to come. 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 May 3," said the MHA spokesperson in a series of tweets

The first guidelines were issued on March 24 immediately after the prime minister announced the lockdown for 21 days. The guidelines, issued under the Disaster Management Act by the Union Home Secretary, specified the people and services exempted from the lockdown. 

The Telangana government has already extended the lockdown till May 7 while the Punjab government extended it for two more weeks beyond May 3. Several chief ministers, who attended a meeting convened by the prime minister on April 27, have sought the extension of the lockdown as coronavirus cases continue to rise in the country.

The number of COVID-19 hotspot districts in India on April 29 has come down to 129 from 170 a fortnight ago, but in the same period, the number of infection-free districts or green zones too decreased from 325 to 307. During this time, the number of non-hotspot districts, also known as orange zones, increased from 207 to 297.

On April 15, the Centre had declared 170 districts across 25 states and Union Territories as coronavirus hotspots or red zones. Of these, 123 were hotspot districts with large outbreaks and 47 with clusters. It had also said 325 districts had not reported any coronavirus case because of actions initiated at the field level.

According to the Health Ministry data, the number of coronavirus cases in the country climbed to 31,787 and the number of fatalities rose to 1,008 on Wednesday, registering a record jump of 71 deaths in 24 hours. There has been a spike of 1,813 cases since Tuesday evening.

The government has already allowed industrial activities in rural areas with conditions. Similarly, apart from the shops for the essential commodities, standalone business establishments of non-essential goods were also allowed to open during the lockdown. Movement of essential and non-essential cargos are also allowed through trucks and trains.

The home ministry has allowed movement of migrant workers, students, tourists and other people with certain conditions.