Govt extends lockdown in containment zones till June 30; religious places, hotels, restaurants, malls to open from June 8

NEW DELHI: The Centre on Saturday took an exit step from the 68-day nationwide lockdown, declaring that the restrictions will be limited to only containment zones up to June 30 and that the prohibited activities will be opened in a phased manner in areas outside these zones.

Applicable from Monday, June 1, the fresh order issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) spoke of the expanded fresh guidelines a day ahead of the end of lockdown 4.0.

"In exercise of powers under section 6 (2) (i) of the Disaster Management Act, 2005, National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) it has directed the undersigned to issue an order to extend the lockdown in containment zones up to June 30, and reopen prohibited activities in a phased manner in areas outside containment zones," the order says.

Therefore, in exercise of the powers conferred under section 10 (2)(l) of the Disaster Management Act 2005, it is directed that the guidelines will remain in force up to June 30.

Religious places and places of worship for public, hotels, restaurants and other hospitality services along with shopping malls will be permitted to open from June 8, said the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Saturday.

However, these facilities will not be able to resume operations inside containment zones designated by authorities in states, said a government notification.

The nationwide lockdown was imposed on March 25 with the announcement of the restrictions by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to contain the spread of COVID-19 pandemic. The lockdown was extended thrice earlier.