Unlock-1.0 India Kick-Starts Economy, Here's How You Need to Start Living With Covid-19 - Health Ministry Guidelines

India fights back - Decoding New Ways to Fight Corona Virus in 2020

All you need to know about Center's guidelines Unlock 1.0 since June-01-2020, states issue fresh guidelines.

I hope this is helpful to understand the new ways government is trying to make people of India live with Covid-19

Home Ministry has decided to gradually ease the lockdown restrictions in India.

For ‘Unlock-1’, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Thursday released its guidelines.

Standard Operating Procedures include instructions for operation of offices, malls, restaurants, hotels, and religious places for as long as they may get new inputs to handle the pandemic with the pouring—economy.

The rules include a combination of traditional and specific steps designed to ensure social isolation and cleanliness as India returns to existence after the COVID-19 lockdown.

Health Ministry guidelines for offices :
The guidelines are split into four categories:

1 - Generic preventive measures to be followed at all times
2 - Measures specific to offices
3 - Measures to be taken on occurrence of the case(s)
4 - Disinfection procedures to be implemented in case of occurrence of suspect/confirmed case

In the light of the general precautions to be followed by all (employees and visitors) at all times, individuals over 65 years of age, individuals with co-morbidities, and pregnant women are urged to remain at home, except for necessary and safety reasons. The management of the Office is to facilitate the process.

Besides, individuals must keep a safe distance of 6 feet between each other in public spaces; the use of a face mask/cover must be compulsory; hand-washing must be frequently practiced and covering one's mouth and nose while coughing or sneezing must be strictly followed.

The general instructions also require the deployment and usage of the Aarogya Setu app by employees.

Effective prevention precautions include automatic hand sanitizing and thermal scanning procedures for entrances, and only asymptomatic workers and guests will be authorized with precautions.

Drivers must preserve their social distance and observe the activities or safety tips necessary. A provision must be made to disinfect the interior of the vehicle using a 1 % sodium hypochlorite spray.

Office hours should be staggered as far as possible; meetings should be held through video conferences as much as possible and the number of people in the elevators should be limited to maintain social distance standards.

Both markets, stands, cafes, etc., outside and inside the office premises shall be subject to social distance requirements at all times.

In case of a suspected patient, if very mild symptoms were reported on assessment by the health authorities, would be placed under home quarantine.
The required steps to monitor interaction and disinfect the workplace should begin after the patient's evaluation has been obtained as positive.

As far as the closure of the workplace is concerned, if one or two cases are reported, the disinfection procedure will be limited to places / areas visited by the patient in the past 48 hours. ALL workers must operate from home before the building / block has been thoroughly disinfected and deemed prepared for re-occupation.

Health Ministry guidelines for shopping malls / public places :

Over all guidelines are similar to as of mentioned for offices. Shopping mall management are to advise accordingly. The generic measures include simple public health measures including physical distancing followed by other guidelines.

Large gatherings and congregations remain prohibited.
No more than 50% of the seating capacity will be required in food courts and restaurants. Disposable menus are advised to be included.

The employees of the Food Court will wear masks and hand gloves and take all appropriate precautions. The seating structure will maintain, as far as possible, an acceptable social space between the visitors.
The contactless method of buying and indeed the wireless form of payment (using e-wallets) must be supported, and the tables must be sanitized any time the consumer left.

Health Ministry guidelines for religious places : No prasad, touching statues or books not allowed

Religious sites inside containment zones shall remain closed to the public and those outside shall be permitted to open, according to the SOPs provided by the Ministry of Health on Thursday to control the COVID-19 spread to these areas.

"No physical offers, such as prasad/distribution or sprinkling of holy water, etc., should be permitted within a religious location," the ministry said, underlining that group kitchens, langars, 'Ann-Daan' etc. would obey social distance guidelines when cooking and distributing food.

Touching statues, idols and sacred books should not be allowed and large gatherings are prohibited.
The premises should be disinfected if the person is found to be positive

Health Ministry guidelines for hotels and hospitality services :

In the case of hotels and hospitality providers, they were required to keep a clear record of the guest's travel details and medical history, along with the ID and self-report form.

"The bags should be disinfected before delivering the luggage to the quarters. For room service, contact between the visitors and the in-house workers should be given by intercom / mobile phone and room service (if any) while preserving an acceptable social range," he added.




**Additional guidelines can be found on the Health Ministry’s website.**