MHA's new COVID-19 guidelines to take effect on December 1: What is allowed and what is not

States and UTs have been authorised to impose local restrictions, including night curfews in containment zones. However, for imposing further restrictions or local lockdown outside the containment zones, prior consultation with the central government will be mandatory.

Moneycontrol News

November 26, 2020 / 07:11 AM IST

Representative image

A fresh set of coronavirus guidelines were issued by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs on November 25 for better surveillance and containment of COVID-19 as India’s total caseload is inching toward the 10 million mark.

The new guidelines will be effective from December 1, 2020, and will remain in place till December 31.

Under the new set of coronavirus rules, states and union territories will be required to demarcate containment zones at the micro level. These will be in line with Home Minister Amit Shah’s “dynamic containment zones” suggestion.

Home Ministry issues fresh COVID-19 guidelines for surveillance, containment

What will not be allowed inside containment zones?

As per the new MHA guidelines, strict perimeter control will be followed in these areas, which means no movement of people will be allowed in or out of these zones. Exceptions will be made for medical emergencies and supply of essential goods and services.

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.

Show