The guidlines will come into effect from 1 August, 2020.

Under the new guidelines, government announced that night curfews imposed in the country in order to combat the spread of Covid-19 will now be removed, starting 1 August.

Independence Day functions will be allowed with social distancing and by following other health protocols, such as wearing of masks etc, said the government.

The government also said the new guidlines issued today are based on feedbacks received overtime by authorities and chief ministers of states and Union Territories.

Apart from that, Yoga institutes and gymnasiums will be allowed to open from August 5, 2020, while maintaining social distancing norms, the government said.

There shall be no restrictions of intra-state or inter-state of people or goods across the country and no additional pass or e-permit will be required for such movement, the order stated.

However, schools, colleges and other educational institutions will remain closed during this phase of the unlock plan as well.

Further, metro services, cinema halls and swimming pools, entertainment parks, bars, theatres, auditoriums and other social gathering places will remain closed.

Social/political/sports/entertainment/academic/cultural/religious functions and other large congregations still not permitted.

However, the government mentioned that dates of these services will be “decided separately based on the assessment of the situation.”

International air travel has been permitted in a phased manner under the Vande Bharat Mission. Further opening will take up in a calibrated manner, the MHA said in a statement.

All other activities except the ones listed under prohibition shall be permitted outside the containment zones.

The MHA also encouraged the use of Aarogya Setu contact tracing app in order to help combat the highly contagious disease.

Guidelines for containment zones:

According to the order, lockdown in containment zones will remain imposed till 31 August, 2020. These virus containment zones need to be carefully demarcated by the state governments or UTs.

Within the perimeters of containment zones, strict social distancing and other norms of containing the spread of the virus shall be maintained and only essential activities will be allowed, MHA said in a statement.

These containment zones will be notified on the websites of respective district collectors of the states and UTs and activities taking place in these zones will be strictly monitored by the authorities.

MHA also stated that the states and UTs can impose its own guidelines outside the containment zones, which they deem necessary.

India went under a complete nationwide lockdown from 25 March in order to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus in the country. In an attempt to bring back normalcy, the MHA has been issuing a number of guidelines in its Unlock India mission in order to provide relaxations in a graded manner and kickstart the economy.

Meanwhile, with 48,513 people testing positive for coronavirus in a day, India’s Covid-19 tally crossed 15 lakh-mark today, while the recoveries jumped to 9,88,029, according to the daily bulletin of Ministry of Health & Family Welfare.

The country’s death toll rose to 34,193 with 768 fatalities being recorded in a day. The fatality from covid currently stands at 2.25% in India as compared to global average of about 4%.

Total virus positive cases stand at 15,31,669 including 5,09,447 active cases, the health ministry said.