MHA to relax COVID lockdown in many districts from May 4; details to be out soon

Four days before the extended Coronavirus lockdown is due to end, the Ministry of Home Affairs has said that it will issue revised guidelines that will give considerable relaxations in many districts which will be announced soon. In a tweet on Wednesday, a spokesperson of the MHA said those new guidelines will come into effect from May 4.

The official informed that the Ministry held a comprehensive review meeting on the situation of the lockdown on Wednesday which noted "tremendous gains and improvement" on India's COVID-19 response. The official maintained that the current guidelines on the lockdown should be strictly observed till May 3.

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Inter-state movement of stranded migrants allowed

The announcement comes hours after the MHA permitted the inter-state movement of stranded persons in the country, in the face of rising apprehension among out-of-work migrant workers over their well-being in COVID-hit metropolises. This move will help migrant workers, students, pilgrims, tourists who have been stranded in different parts of India to return to their home state, a demand made regularly by several Chief Ministers.

While buses will be used for the transportation of the persons, they will be allowed to proceed only after being medically screened. Moreover, they will again be tested for COVID-19 at their destination and kept in home quarantine or sent to an institutional quarantine facility as per the assessment. Currently, there are 31,787 confirmed novel coronavirus cases in India out of which 7,797 persons have recovered while 1008 casualties have been reported.

READ | Coronavirus Live Updates: MHA Permits Inter-state Movement Of Stranded Migrants, Tourists

MHA issues guidelines

As per the guidelines issued by the MHA, all state governments have been directed to designate nodal officers and develop standard protocols for receiving and sending such stranded persons. The nodal authorities shall register the stranded persons within their state or Union Territory. The sending and receiving state must consult each other when a group of stranded persons seeks to move from one state to another state and mutually agree to movement by road.

The buses used for the purpose of transporting the migrants shall be sanitised and follow social distancing norms. Furthermore, the states falling in the transit route will allow the passage of such persons to the receiving state. Even if the migrants test negative for the novel coronavirus, they will be subjected to periodic check-ups. 

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