NEW DELHI : Union government has been preparing to finalise and announce anytime by Sunday morning the guidelines for lockdown 4.0. The third phase of lockdown is going to end on Sunday.

According to sources the next phase of “much-relaxed” lockdown would be of another two weeks and plans are afoot to allow metro and bus services, barber shops, restaurants, local markets and home appliance repairing shops to open in the green and orange.

“Many of the states have sent their suggestions to the Centre and have favoured continuation of lockdown at least till May end under National Disaster Management Act (NDMA).
Meanwhile, Union Home Ministry (MHA) is considering the suggestions of Delhi government which has proposed opening of markets, shopping complexes and operation of buses and metro services with strict social distancing norms.
Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal has, in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, demanded that following the end of Lockdown 3 on May 17, there should be no relaxations in the containment zones. Outside of those, however, economic activities should be allowed. He has also urged that social distancing be followed and the wearing of masks be kept mandatory.
Kejriwal also stated that he believes that there will be a spurt in COVID-19 cases after the lockdown is relaxed. “For dealing with such a situation we have made adequate arrangements for hospitals, oxygen, ventilators, ambulances, ICUs, etc,” he wrote. The Delhi government has so far followed all the instructions issued by the Centre for dealing with coronavirus and would fight ‘shoulder-to-shoulder’ the battle ahead, he said.
He wrote that all schools, colleges, training and coaching institutions should remain closed while examinations should be allowed after June 1 and online and distance learning be permitted.

He also called for keeping closed all cinema halls, gym, entertainment parks, theatres, bars, auditoriums, assembly halls, religious places, places of worship, barber shops, spas and salons, and prohibiting all social, political, sports, entertainment, academic, cultural, religious and other gatherings.
While also demanding that hospitality services remain prohibited, the Delhi government has suggested their use for housing health, police, government officials, healthcare workers and stranded persons as also for use as quarantine facilities.
The Delhi government has also recommended that the movement of individuals for non-essential activities be prohibited between 9 am and 5 pm. He has urged that all restaurants, eating joints, sweet shops and bakeries be allowed to operate irrespective of their location on a takeaway and home delivery basis.
The Delhi government wants movement of individuals and vehicles to be allowed. It has recommended that four wheelers be allowed with a maximum of two passengers besides the driver while only one person be allowed on a two wheeler. It also wants autorickshaws, e-rickshaws and cycle-rickshaws to return to the streets with the stipulation that they shall carry only one passenger.

It has also desired that taxis and cabs, including those of aggregators, be allowed to come back with the condition that there would only be two passengers apart from the driver. However, it has advised against car-pooling or car-sharing by aggregators.

While,Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha have urged the Centre to extend the lockdown till the end of this month besides keeping air and rail traffic, other than Shramik Special trains, suspended during the period in view of the situation that has emerged following the return of migrants to Bihar from across the country on a large scale.

The West Bengal government, which has been on loggerheads with the Centre on various points, has decided to support Home Ministry’s decision to extend the lockdown but wants the states to be allowed to decide on relaxations in their respective areas.

In a proposal sent to the centre by the Haryana government, the state has now decided to open markets and shops in all the districts of Haryana. The State government is also setting the criteria for opening the main markets in the Red Zone. The odd-even formula can be adapted to open the shops in markets and shopping complexes.
It is believed that preparations for the implementation of the fourth phase of the COVID-19 lockdown are underway ahead of the period after May 18, when the state government will have the rights to implement the lockdown in the fourth phase.
In Haryana, Faridabad and Sonipat fall under the Red Zone. Gurugram and Jhajjar District which are currently categorised as the orange Zone are also standing at the mouth of falling into the Red Zone.
(With Inputs from Media Reports)

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