Unlock 1: Night curfew to remain with relaxed timings from 5 pm to 9 am, confirms MHA

The night curfew will continue to remain in force on the movement of individuals, for all non-essential activities, stated the Union Home Ministry. This comes as the Centre on Saturday, announced that the nationwide- Coronavirus lockdown in containment zones has been extended till June 30, 2020.

The revised timings of the curfew of 'Unlock 1' phase, which begins after the fourth phase of the lockdown comes to an end on May 31, will be from 9 pm to 5 am, according to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).

"Night Curfew shall continue to remain in force, on the movement of individuals, for all non-essential activities. However, the revised timings of the curfew will be from 9 pm to 5 am," MHA said in a release. In its earlier lockdown guidelines (Lockdown 4.0) on May 14, MHA on Sunday had said that the night curfew shall continue to remain in force on the movement of individuals for all non-essential activities, between 7 pm and 7 am.

MHA issued new guidelines for phased re-opening of "all activities outside containment zones for the next one month beginning June 1". "The guidelines will come into effect from June 1, 2020 and will be effective till June 30, 2020. The current phase of re-opening, Unlock 1, will have an economic focus," MHA said.

READ: Coronavirus Live Updates: Centre extends lockdown till June 30; active cases at 86,422

Phase wise reopening

The MHA has mentioned that the lockdown will be eased outside containment zones in three phases. The MHA has stated that all activities will be allowed in these areas except certain activities which will be allowed to restart in phases. Here are the phase-wise re-opening: 

Phase 1 : From June 8 , religious places, hotels, restaurants, shopping malls will be allowed to reopen but will have to adhere to SOPs which will be issued by Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoHFW)

Phase 2 : Schools, colleges and other educational institutions will be opened in consultation with respective states and Union Territories from July 2020. An SOP will be issued for the same by Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoHFW)

Phase 3 : After further assessment of the prevalent COVID-19 conditions, resuming of international air travel, metros, cinema halls, gymnasiums, swimming pools, entertainment parks, theatres, bars, auditoriums, social/political/sports/religious/cultural functions will be decided.

READ: MHA allows unrestricted inter-state & intra-state travel; issues guidelines for 'Unlock 1'

Meanwhile, India has so far reported 1,73,763 COVID-19 cases of which 82,370 people have recovered while 4,971 have died. There are currently 86,422 active cases, which means the recovery rate is close to the 50% mark. The fourth phase of the lockdown was due to end on Sunday, May 31.

READ: Mumbai & major cities in Maharashtra unlikely to ease lockdown restrictions: Sources

READ: Centre extends nationwide Coronavirus lockdown in containment zones till June 30