Daily case in India have seen a dramatic dip since the beginning of the month, but the tally of deaths in the current second wave is declining much slower. At this juncture, many states that had introduced some form of lockdown or the other are hesitant to roll back all restrictions, but come June, there will be some relaxations that all are planning, including New Delhi.
New Delhi
New cases added in the national capital stood at less than 1,000 on May 29. The city had added more than 28,000 cases on April 20 (7-day average). That has seen the AAP government announce some relaxations in rules from May 31 although the general lockdown has been extended till June 7.
All existing restrictions, including the suspension of Delhi Metro services and bar on weddings in public places and all wholesale and retail markets, will stay till June 7. Also prohibited is the movement of individuals except for those engaged in essential and permitted activities. Such workers need to obtain an e-pass from the Delhi government website.
Maharashtra
The state where the seven-day moving average of daily new cases was close to 70,000 in the middle of April, is adding about 20,000 cases now. But with India’s highest cumulative case load and its highest total deaths, the Uddhav Thackeray-led coalition government has decided to continue with restrictions till June 15. Introduced on April 14, the curbs were to run initially till June 1.
The state government this time has, however, said that fresh guidelines will be issued on June 1 for this phase of restrictions, including on opening of shops selling non-essential items.
CM Uddhav Thackeray had said that in 10 to 15 districts of Maharashtra, “the positivity rate is still very high” and there is also “the threat of the black fungus infection” and it is understood that a call on giving relaxation in such areas will be taken accordingly.
Although daily deaths have declined, Maharashtra was still registering a high count of more than 800 deaths (seven-day rolling average) in the last week of May.
Karnataka
Second on the total cases list and adding almost as many cases daily now as neighbouring Maharashtra, the state is going to be in lockdown mode till June 7.
Restrictions were first announced for 14 days on April 27 only to make way for a complete lockdown from May 10 to May 24. That was subsequently extended till June 7 with Chief Minister BS Yeddiyurappa saying that “the decision to extend the lockdown for two weeks is taken after experts advised us to continue the lockdown.”
Among the restrictions, all public transportation has been suspended and educational institutes are closed. Theatres, malls, stadiums and swimming pools and social, political, sports, entertainment, cultural, religious functions and other gatherings and congregations are banned. The movement of public or private buses or passenger vehicles, too, is barred while hotels, restaurants, liquor shops and hospitality services can only do business via takeaway or home delivery.
It has further been reported that the government has indicated it may extend the lockdown till June 30 and is consulting the Centre in that regard.
Kerala
Kerala, too, has decided to lean to the side of caution and extended its lockdown till June 9, although the state government has granted some concessions.
Making the announcement on Saturday, CM Pinarayi Vijayan that although the prevalence of the disease is declining significantly in the state, it is still not time to remove restrictions and the lockdown “will continue in all districts from May 31 to June 9”.
The state added more than 20,000 cases (7-day average) in the five days till May 29 although the total deaths it has recorded is a tiny fraction of the tallies of Maharashtra and Karnataka, the two states above it on India’s Covid-19 cases chart.
The new guidelines allow some relaxation for performing essential activities and all industrial establishments can function if they have 50% of total staff physically present on the floor. Banks will open on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays with extended timings till 5 pm while shops selling educational books, textiles for weddings, jewellery and footwear will be open till 5 pm on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
Tamil Nadu
Last week, Tamil Nadu extended its lockdown till June 7. The state with India’s fourth highest case load had clamped curbs on May 10, extending it for another week on May 24. But with the state seeing a daily tally of more than 30,000 new cases (7-day average), CM MK Stalin has decided that the lockdown needs to remain in place.
The CM said that provision stores would be allowed to sell essential supplies through carts or vehicles in their respective localities with permission from local bodies. Among relaxations announced is the nod to export units and vendors supplying to such units to function with 50% staff in all districts but Coimbatore, Tiruppur, Salem, Karur, Erode, Namakkal, Trichy and Madurai.
Also, banks and other financial services will be allowed to function with a third of staff.
UP
Amid a surge of cases in the state and reports of the health system buckling under pressure, the state had announced a lockdown on April 30, later extending partial lockdowns till May 31. But as of May 30, the state government was reportedly mulling a relaxation in lockdown rules.
“A careful review of the Covid situation in both rural and urban areas of the state in the meetings held by CM Yogi Aditya Nath, along with the efforts of Integrated Command and Control Centres (ICCC)… has made it possible to control the spread of coronavirus in the state,” State Health Minister Jai Pratap Singh said.
From a peak of close to 40,000 cases in end-April, the state is now reporting only a few thousand new infections daily.
Northeastern states
Total lockdown in Nagaland will continue till June 11, which is when they are also to end in seven districts of Manipur while curbs will continue in seven districts of Arunachal Pradesh till June 7. Mizoram has extended the lockdown in capital Aizawl by another seven days till June 6. Lockdown in Meghalaya’s worst-affected East Khasi Hills district is to continue till June 7. Tripura has extended curfew in major cities and towns till June 5. Sikkim’s lockdown, too, is till May 31.
Other states
Goa has extended its “corona curfew” by another week till June 7 while Madhya Pradesh has announced separate unlock guidelines for districts even as weekend lockdowns continue beyond May 31.
Andhra Pradesh is extending restrictions — in place for a month — in Tirupati and the entire Chittoor district from June 1 to June 15 while the daily 18-hour curfew restrictions would be increased to 20 hours and it would be extended till June 15.
Himachal Pradesh has extended curbs till June 7 but announced relaxations, including increase in the opening hours of shops.
Gujarat has extended night curfew in 36 cities of the state till June 4 with educational institutions, auditoriums, theatres, malls, community halls, water parks, spas, gyms, gardens and swimming pools, to remain closed.
The lockdown in Rajasthan has been extended till June 8.
Puducherry has decided to continue with its lockdown till June 7 as have most Northeastern states.
Haryana has imposed a lockdown till May 31. Punjab has extended its coronavirus restrictions till June 10. Their common capital, the Union Territory (UT) of Chandigarh has imposed night and weekend curfew restrictions till May 31.
Among the eastern states, Bihar has a lockdown in place till June 1 as does Odisha, but West Bengal has extended its total lockdown till June 15.
The UT of Jammu and Kashmir has a curfew till May 31 and in Uttarakhand similar restrictions run till June 1.
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