As Covid-19 cases in the country continue to increase, Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla has written a letter to all the state chief secretaries and administrators of Union Territories to strictly prohibit movement of people between 9 pm and 5 am, except for essential activities during Unlock 1.0. However, there will be no restrictions on plying of buses with passengers and goods trucks on highways.
“I would like to clarify that the purpose of restricting movement of individuals, except for essential activities, between 9 pm and 5 am, is primarily intended to prevent congregation of persons and to ensure social distancing,” Bhalla said. The letter also says that these restrictions do not apply to activities like loading/unloading of goods (as part of supply chains and logistics), buses carrying persons and trucks and goods carriers plying on state and national highways, or persons travelling to their destinations after disembarking from buses, trains and flights.
The new guidelines came on a day when India recorded more than 10,000 cases in a single day which is also the highest since the corona outbreak in the country. The total tally has now crossed 2.9 lakh cases with 8,498 deaths so far. Union Home Ministry had issued guidelines for Unlock 1.0 on 1 June under which relaxations were announced to allow a large number of social, economic, religious and sports activities till 30 June.