Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra extend lockdown till May end

Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra on Sunday extended the COVID-19 lockdown till May 31, joining Punjab and Mizoram which have already taken a similar decision.

Two other northeast states – Manipur and Assam – and Bihar are also likely to extend the lockdown till the end of the month.

The states have taken the decision as the third pase of the ongoing lockdown will end on Sunday (May17).

TN lifts some curbs

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami announced new relaxations such as resumption of public transportation in 25 districts after a hiatus of nearly two months.

In 12 other districts, including Chennai, there will be no change in the curbs and will continue as they existed during the third phase of lockdown, set to end on Sunday, he added.

Citing consultations with top officials, public health and medical experts, he said the lockdown is extended till May 31 and the curbs including bar on functioning of educational institutions, public entry into religious places and relaxations already in force will continue throughout the state.

Palaniswami announced new relaxation in curbs for 25 districts, including Coimbatore, Salem, Erode, Tirupur, Namakkal and Karur, where people could avail government and private bus transportation for commute within the district and they do not need "TN e-pass," (permission for travel), he said.

Public transport ceased to operate in the state as part of lockdown measures from March 24 evening.

Lockdown 4.0 in Maharashtra

Maharashtra government on Sunday extended the lockdown in the state till May 31, an official said.

State Chief Secretary Ajoy Mehta has issued an order notifying extension of the lockdown, the official said.

"The calibrated phase-wise relaxation/lifting of lockdown orders will be notified in due course," the order said.

"Lockdown 3.0 ends today. Lockdown 4.0 will come into effect tomorrow and will be valid till May 31. There will be some relaxations in the fourth phase," he said.

"The green and orange zones will get more relaxations, in terms of starting more services. As of now only essential services are operational, he said.

Maharashtra has recorded 30,706 COVID-19 cases of which 22,479 are active. The death toll is 1,135, while 7,088 patients have been discharged after recovery.

Curfew restrictions to go in Punjab

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Saturday evening said the coronavirus lockdown in the state will continue till May 31, though his government will lift the curfew restrictions.

From May 18, there will be no curfew in the state. But the lockdown will be there till May 31, said the chief minister in a live Facebook interaction as part of his #AskCaptain initiative.

He further indicated the resumption of limited public transport services and the "maximum possible relaxation" in the non-containment zones from May 18.

He said the state government will announce more relaxations from May 18 but sought support of people in containing the COVID-19 spread in the state.

The containment zones will be sealed to enable the resumption of shops and small businesses in non-containment areas, the CM announced, adding that lockdown details will be announced by Monday after going through guidelines of the Centre.

The CM, however, said educational institutions will remain closed.

There is not going to be any fee hike in fee this year by private schools, the CM added.

Singh said in its suggestions to the Union Home Minister, as sought by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the state has recommended that the nationwide lockdown should be extended till May 31 in a relaxed form.

The chief minister said the state government has asked the Union government for a simpler categorisation of containment zones.

He said at present, a district as a whole is a single zone or at the most, there are two units - municipal and non-municipal corporation area.

COVID-19 cases in one part of a district can result in classification of the entire district as red zone, putting severe restrictions on industry and shops, he noted, underlining the need to scrap this system and go for a "containment-focused strategy".

The CM said the daily number of new cases in the state has come down in the past four days or so after a recent surge in the wake of the arrival of pilgrims from Nanded and students from Kota.

However, the numbers can go up as more migrant labourers and NRIs enter Punjab, he warned, adding that 60,000 Punjabis from other states and 20,000 from abroad have registered for return as of now.

The chief minister made it clear that his government will continue to pay for migrants wanting to go back home.

Seventeen to 18 trains ferry migrants daily from Punjab, he said, adding that 13 lakh migrant workers are in the state.

No effort will be spared to ensure that no person goes hungry, he declared, agreeing that over one crore food packets distributed so far were not sufficient and more needed to be done on this count.

Responding to a question, the CM said it was not possible to further advance paddy cultivation date from June 10 to June 1 as it may lead to higher moisture content in grains at the time of harvesting in August.

On the promise of providing one lakh jobs announced in the budget, he said the process will soon start.

The CM again urged the Opposition not to indulge in petty politics over the issue of COVID-19, and to cooperate with the state government in the hour of crisis.

Mizoram lockdown

In Mizoram, the decision to extend lockdown was taken after various political parties and several organisations, including those of NGOs, churches and doctors, favoured extension of the lockdown at a meeting on Thursday, an official said.

At a meeting of various task groups on COVID-19 presided over by Chief Secretary Lalnunmawi Chuango, it was decided that the lockdown will be extended beyond May 17, the official said.

New guidelines for extended lockdown too was discussed in the meeting, he added.

A task group was formed to study about extending insurance cover to frontline workers such as police, village or local-level task force volunteers, government employees on special duty and those who pick garbage from quarantine facilities, the official said.

Chief Minister Zoramthanga who presided over Thursday's meeting had said that extending the lockdown was crucial to ensure public safety, although the state has been declared green zone after its lone patient recovered on May 9.

The patient, who had a travel history to Netherlands, tested positive for COVID-19 on March 24.

Mizoram began testing of samples for COVID-19 at Zoram Medical College (ZMC) on April 7. Total 202 samples have been tested so far and all were found to be negative.