The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Wednesday issued new set of guidelines as a part of its plan to control the spread of covid-19 infection in the country. The new guidelines will come into effect from December 1 will remain till December 31 and will focus on surveillance, containment and caution against the virus.
The new guidelines come after few states witnessed spike in covid-19 cases due to the ongoing festive season and start of the winter season.
The ministry has asked states and UTs to closely monitor the containment zones and consider the guidelines released by MoHFW in ths regard. It has asked states to keep close surviellance but not to impose lockdown outside the contianment zones withour any discussion with the Central government.
It has also allowed states to limit the number of people attending social/religious/sports/entertainment/educational/cultural/religious gatherings to 100 or less if required.
“In cities, where the weekly Case Positivity Rate is in more than 10 percent, States and UTs concerned shall consider implementing staggered office timings and other suitable measures, with a view to reduce the number of employees attending office at the same time, thereby ensuring social distancing,” it said in the statement.
In containment zones, only essential activities shall be allowed with intensive house-to-house surveillance by surveillance teams. Other regulations include prescribed testing, isolation of covid-19 patients in no time and covid-19 appropriate behaviour.
What is allowed?
All activities have been permitted outside Containment Zones, except for the following, which have been permitted with certain restrictions:
*International air travel of passengers, as permitted by MHA.
*Cinema halls and theatres, with upto 50 percent capacity.
*Swimming pools, only for training of sports persons.
*Exhibition halls, only for business to business (B2B) purposes.
*Social/ religious/ sports/ entertainment/ educational/ cultural/ religious gatherings, with upto a maximum of 50 percent of the hall capacity, with a ceiling of 200 persons in closed spaces; and keeping of the size of the ground/ space in view, in open spaces.
For the activities outside the containment zones, states and UTs would require to follow covid-19 appropriate behaviour as per the guidelines issued by the ministry which are as follows:
*States and UTs shall take all necessary steps to promote Covid appropriate behaviour and ensure strict enforcement of wearing face masks/coverings, social distancing and hand hygiene.
*To enforce the most crucial requirement of wearing face masks/coverings, states and UTs may consider administrative actions including imposition of fines for those people who do not follow the regulation in public and work spaces.
Meanwhile, the government has also asked to continue the use of Aarogya Setu mobile app.
