New Delhi, 1 May: The nationwide lockdown enforced to restrain the coronavirus outbreak in the country has been extended for 2 weeks.
On Friday, its term was extended by issuing a statement by the Central Government. Now phase 3 lockdown will remain in place till May 17.
During this period, there will be no relief in the Red Zone areas, except for the restricted activities in the Green and Orange zones, the people will be gradually given relief in a phased manner.
In this series, the Health Ministry had released a detailed list of districts related to Red, Orange and Green zones on Friday morning.
The Ministry of Home Affairs has given permission to start most of the activity in the Green Zone in the detailed guidelines, while most of the activities in the Red Zone and the Containment Zone will remain restricted.
On Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a crucial meeting regarding the lockdown ending on May 3 in the country. In this, it was decided that the lockdown should be further extended for two weeks.
Home Minister Amit Shah, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal, Chief of Defense Staff (CDS) General Vipin Rawat, Health Minister Harsh Vardhan were present in the meeting.
Earlier, about a dozen Chief Ministers had also suggested during a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi via video conferencing that the lockdown should be extended by at least two weeks keeping in view the national interest. In view of this, the government issued this order on Friday.
The Ministry of Home Affairs issued an order under the Disaster Management Act, 2005 to extend the lockdown period of two weeks after May 3. The lockdown will now remain in effect until May 17. Public transport services such as railways and aviation will remain suspended during this period.
However, the exemption granted by the Ministry of Home Affairs in the Green Zone will continue.
According to the Ministry of Health, there are 130 districts under Red Zone, 284 districts under Orange Zone and 319 districts under Green Zone in the country. It will be assessed every week and the zone will change according to the infected cases.
