New Delhi: Shopping malls, religious places, hotels and restaurants are now set to reopen in most states from Monday (June 8, 2020) after more than two months of sustained shut down as part of government's Unlock 1.0 plan to reopen several economic activities that were earlier restricted due to novel coronavirus pandemic.
Though visiting shopping malls, hotels or restaurants and religious places will no longer be the same like before the country wide lockdown was imposed. Cinema halls, gaming arcades and children play areas will continue to be in the prohibited segment.
The Union Health Ministry had issued a set of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for the strict adherence at these places to contain the spread of COVID-19 but also left it to the discretion of the states to finetune the details.
In Delhi, malls will focus on contact-less shopping and physical distancing, and will conduct hourly disinfection of the common areas, according to some of the mall owners, PTI wrote in a report. There are around 100 big and small shopping malls in the national capital.
The Maharashtra government is yet to take a decision on opening religious places for devotees in the state as part of lockdown relaxations, Maharashtra's law and judiciary department secretary Rajendra Bhagwat told PTI.
In Punjab, the government will provide for a token-based entry to malls as part of its guidelines.
While in Gujarat, some of the religious places have decided to organise prayers in shifts and even start a token system to specify time slots to devotees for visits in a bid to maintain social distancing and avoid crowding.
The general SOPs issued by the Centre included measures like allowing only asymptomatic staff, guests, customers and devotees on the premises, proper crowd management and maintaining effective and frequent sanitation, with a particular focus on lavatories, drinking and hand washing stations/areas.
Frequently touched surfaces like door knobs, elevator buttons, hand rails, benches and washroom fixtures among othes are be cleaned and regularly disinfected.
Hand hygiene (sanitizer dispenser) and thermal screening provisions should be in place mandatorily at the entrance and everyone should maintain respiratory etiquettes and follow the prescribed 'do's and dont's', the Health Ministry stated.
The SOPs also recommended installation and use of the Aarogya Setu app.
For air-conditioning and ventilation, the ministry said the guidelines of the CPWD shall be followed which emphasises that the temperature setting of all air conditioning devices should be in the range of 24-30 degrees Celsius, relative humidity in the range of 40-70 per cent and intake of fresh air be allowed as much as possible besides adequate cross ventilation.
Meanwhile, the total tally of coronavirus cases India mounted to 2,46,628 with the death toll touching 6,929, the Union Health Ministry said. The new phase is likely to pose a serious challenge for the five worst-hit states with Maharashtra recording 85,975, Tamil Nadu 30,152, Delhi 27,654, Gujarat 20,097 and Rajasthan 10,331 cases.
Together they roughly account for nearly 70 per cent of the total coronavirus infections and almost 78 per cent of the fatalities in the country.
