Maharashtra govt relaxes COVID-19 restrictions: What is allowed and what's not

The Maharashtra government has allowed water sports, including activities like boating, as part of the phase-wise easing of lockdown restrictions in the state.

Moneycontrol News

December 23, 2020 / 20:22 IST

The Maharashtra government has announced further relaxation in COVID-19-related restrictions as case numbers are declining in the state. A government circular, dated December 21, said that all social distancing norms and precautions to check the spread of COVID-19 will have to be followed while undertaking these activities.

Here are the activities permitted from December 21 onwards:

> Under Mission Begin Again, the Maharashtra government has allowed water sports, including activities like boating, as part of the phase-wise easing of lockdown restrictions in the state. "The SOP for the same will be issued by Home (Ports) Department," the circular read.

> Entertainment/amusement parks, including indoor entertainment activities, outside containment zones, will be allowed to reopen.

COVID-19 Vaccine

Frequently Asked Questions

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.

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