Govt permits all activities outside containment zones from Feb 1; curbs on cinema halls, swimming pools eased

Curb on cinema hall seating to be eased (File image)

As part of the unlock strategy, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on January 27 announced a fresh set of guidelines that will allow all activities outside the containment zones. These guidelines would come into effect from February 1.

The 50 percent seating capacity norm imposed on cinema halls, will be relaxed to allow more number of viewers per screening, the MHA said. The standard operating procedures (SOP) for movie theatres would be released by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

The curbs on marriages, religious congregations and other gatherings would also be lifted, but the adherence to COVID-19 safety norms will remain mandatory, the MHA guidelines stated. Till now, a cap of 200 guests was imposed on all marriage events.

The restrictions, however, would be lifted only after the respective state governments and union territories validate the recommendations made by the Union Home Ministry.

Also read: COVID-19 cases explained in charts

#COVID19 | Ministry Of Home Affairs: Guidelines for surveillance, containment & caution

COVID-19 Vaccine

Frequently Asked Questions

View more

How does a vaccine work?

A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine.

How many types of vaccines are there?

There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine.

What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind?

Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time.

View more

Show

Related stories

• 
  G20: Larry Summers, NK Singh-led panel on multilateral banks to submit report by June 30
• 
  AAP to display posters against PM Modi across India on March 30
• 
  Naveen Patnaik writes to Piyush Goyal, urges him to procure surplus rice from Odisha

All activities have been permitted outside Containment Zones, with a few exceptions pic.twitter.com/eiF9wt6IbW

— CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18Live) January 27, 2021

Swimming pools, which were shut since March last year after the onset of the pandemic, are also allowed to reopen for all from the start of next month.

Previously, the government had permitted only sportspersons to use swimming pools.

All forms of business-to-business (B2B) exhibition malls would also be permitted from February 1. A separate set of SOP will be issued by the Department of Commerce regarding the resumption of exhibition malls.

As for international air travel, the Home Ministry has claimed that a decision would be taken by the Ministry of Civil Aviation after assessing the current coronavirus situation across the globe.

The MHA, in its guidelines, also reiterated that no restriction would be imposed on inter-state and intra-state movement of people and goods including those for cross land-border trade under treaties with neighbouring countries.

The revised guidelines come in the backdrop of falling infection rate in all parts of the country. The daily COVID-19 count is in its lowest range in the last seven months, while the recovery rate has accelerated to 96.91 percent.