5000 cases in 24 hours, tally nears 91000 mark; death toll 2872
Centre authorises States, UTs to categorize Red, Green and Orange zones
United News of India
New Delhi, May 17: With the country witnessing a record jump of nearly 5000 Novel Coronavirus cases on the last day of Lockdown 3.0, the Centre on Sunday extended the countrywide lockdown till May 31, to further curb the spread of the lethal virus, which has so far claimed 2872 lives.
According to the Health Ministry, the country added 4,987 cases to its overall tally of 90,927 and 120 fatalities in the past 24 hours. On the brighter side, the frontline medics were able to save 3955 lives in the same period, improving the recovery rate by nearly 2.5 per cent than yesterday. The current recovery rate stands at 37.51 per cent.
The decision to extend the lockdown was taken by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), which asked the Ministries/Departments of Government of India, State Governments and State Authorities to continue the lockdown measures till May 31.
The NDMA also directed the National Executive Committee (NEC) to issue modifications in the guidelines as necessary, keeping in view the need to open up economic activities, while containing the spread of fatal virus.
The Ministry of Home Affairs issued new set of guidelines, with certain relaxations that had been already promised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his nationwide televised address on May 12.
NEW GUIDELINES
This time, the Centre authorised States and Union Territories Governments to categorize Red, Green and Orange zones taking into consideration the parameters shared by the Health Ministry.
Inside the red/ orange zones, containment and buffer zones will be identified by the district administration/ local urban bodies with technical inputs at local level and by taking into consideration the Health Ministry guidelines.
Within the containment zones, strict perimeter control shall be maintained, and no movement of persons would be allowed, except for medical emergencies and for maintaining supply of essential goods and services.
Despite several relaxations, the Centre still kept certain activities prohibited including all domestic and international air travel of passengers metro rail services, running of schools, colleges, educational and training/coaching institutions, hotels, restaurants and other hospitality services, keeping in view the dangers of the deadly virus.
