In a planned move to further curb the spread of the Coronavirus the Centre has announced lockdown 3.0. According to this the lockdown has been increased till the 17th of May, all across the country.
There will be easing of restrictions in the Orange and Green zones with stringent restrictions still in place in the Red zones, hot spots and containment areas. Universally however, Air, Metro, Rail and Inter State movement is not allowed in all zones. Schools, colleges and Educational institutes to remain closed. Hospitality and hotels to remain closed. Malls. Hotels, cinemas and gyms to remain shut.
The movement of non-essential services is prohibited all over from 7 pm to 7 am.
However in the Red zones, E commerce of essentials is allowed, All municipal services allowed, all Govt offices can operate with senior staff , Pvt offices can operate at 33 % strength is allowed .Manufacturing of essentials allowed in red zones. Industrial and construction activity can be started. There will be a restriction on two wheeler riding with only one rider on two wheelers.The lockdown has been considerably eased in the green and orange zones.
Most of the activities can resume in these zones. E commerce is allowed in Green and Orange zones. Buses with 50 % capacity can ply in green zones. Pillion riding is permitted. Four wheelers with one driver and 2 passengers is permitted.Standalone liquour shops and neighbouring shops are allowed to operate.The lockdown in India has shown positive results mostly due to the following factors:
We have a large rural population which does not come under excessive air travel or International travel, therefore the infection has not reached large areas of our rural population.
India has a high young population with lower chances of getting infected
We have managed to work efficiently in controlling the spread of the virus during lockdown and therefore we have not yet reached the community transmission stage.
We must however take advantage of the gains we have received from the lockdown by continuing to practice social distancing and ensuring all protective and precautionary measures that we have been told to adopt and have been adopting so far.
