Unlock 5.0: Guidelines likely to be announced today; here’s what to expect ahead of festive season

Unlock 5 guidelines: With Unlock 4 guidelines coming to an end today i.e September 30, 2020, people are expecting the Central government to issue Unlock 5.0 guidelines today. Unlock 5.0 guidelines will hold importance as India will witness festivals during this period. Unlock 4.0, which was issued on August 29, had provisions for opening up more activities outside Containment Zones. However, it mentioned strict enforcement of lockdown in Containment Zones till September 30.

What to expect from Unlock 5 guidelines

The tourism sector and hotel industry have been severely hit by the Coronavirus pandemic. In Unlock 5, the Central government may open up more tourist places. So far, the Odisha government has announced that it would reopen all tourist destinations from October. “We have decided to reopen all the tourist spots from October with strict adherence to health safety guidelines amid the COVID-19 pandemic,” PTI quoted Tourism Minister J P Panigrahi as saying. The Sikkim government allowed hotels, home-stays, and other tourism-related services to resume from October 10. Kerala may open the tourism sector in October as a discussion was held with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) representatives regarding the modalities. The Uttarakhand government has lifted its Coronavirus restrictions for tourists.

Cinema halls, swimming pools, and entertainment parks are yet to open across the country despite requests from the Multiplex Association of India. It would be interesting to see whether the Centre gives it a nod for this. In Unlock 4, malls, salons, restaurants, gyms, and open-air theatres were allowed to open with restrictions. The West Bengal government has already given its nod to allow Jatras, Plays, OATs, Cinemas, all musical, dance, recital and magic shows with 50 participants or less from October 1.

The Maharashtra government has allowed restaurants and hotels to resume dine-in service from the first week of October.

Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu has extended lockdown till October 31 but with more relaxations. In Tamil Nadu, Educational institutions will remain closed. The number of domestic flights to land at Chennai airport has been allowed to 100 per day. Film shootings with a maximum of 100 people at a time have been permitted.

In Unlock 4, the metro rail was allowed to operate with effect from September 7 in a graded manner. It will be interesting to see whether Suburban trains will be allowed to run or not.

While Unlock 4 guidelines stated that students of classes 9 to 12 may be permitted to visit their schools in areas outside the Containment Zones only on a voluntary basis for taking guidance from their teachers, schools across India are yet to start full operations.