In an important declaration by Amit Shah-led Ministry of Home Affairs, the lockdown due to coronavirus pandemic has been extended by two more weeks, starting 4th of May, 2020. The second phase of the COVID-19 lockdown announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi was about to expire on 3rd May, 2020. However, the third round of lockdown has come with detailed rules for green, orange and red zones and has allowed some services to open in each zone with specific guidelines. All forms of transports including railways, buses and flights, however, remain suspended in all zones, with few exceptions.
MHA announced that “all domestic and international air travel of passengers, except for medical services, air ambulance and for security purposes or for purposes as permitted by MHA.” This means there will be no air travel, domestic or international, till atleast 17th May 2020 and all passenger flights will remain grounded. Apart from flights, trains, metro trains will not run either.
Districts across the country have been divided into three zones, viz., green, orange and red.
Red zones are hotspots while green zones are those areas where there is no new case of coronavirus for last two-three weeks. The MHA has issued latest guideline which describe various activities allowed in different activities in this period based of extended lockdown. The zones are decided on the basis of risk profiling of the districts in the country. MHA has permitted considerable relaxation in the green zone districts and some in orange zones as well. Strict lockdown will remain in red zone hotspot districts of each state.
Among states, Goa was declared green zone by the chief minister Pramod Sawant who said that the fight is still far from over and added that the state must continue its fight against coronavirus by adopting a modified lifestyle prioritizing safe health norms such as sanitization, wearing of face covers and social distancing.