India has over 17, 615 confirmed cases of the COVID-19 till date. On 19 April 2020, till 9 pm, 27,824 samples have been reported. Of these, 1,135 were positive for SARS-CoV-2. As of April 19, Maharashtra has the most number of confirmed cases among other Indian states followed by Delhi, Gujarat, and Madhya Pradesh. Maharashtra has also reported the most number of casualties owing to the infection, followed by Madhya Pradesh.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared a 21-day nationwide lockdown starting March 25, 2020, to contain further spread of COVID-19. PM Modi In his address on April 14, said that the lockdown will be partially relaxed in some districts from April 20 while the nationwide lockdown will continue to be in effect till May 3. State governments are now dividing districts based on the spread of infection to either allow or deny the relaxation of restrictions.
Orders issued by state governments in lockdown relaxation:
Maharashtra:
On Friday, the Maharashtra government issued guidelines for limited relaxation of restrictions for the period between April 20 and May 3. According to these guidelines, farm-sector activities along with truck repair garages and eateries (dhabas) along highways will be exempted from the lockdown.
Mumbai's civic body, BMC has also been allowed to carry out necessary work starting Monday. This will include filling of potholes and laying of water supply lines, in accordance with the MMRDA as part of monsoon preparedness.
Uttar Pradesh:
In separate orders issued on Sunday, the Lucknow district administration and the Gautam Buddha Nagar district administration stated that there will no relaxations on restrictions in these districts till May 3. While Lucknow is the state capital, Ghaziabad, Noida and Greater Noida are part of the national capital region (NCR) and fall under the purview of the Gautam Buddha Nagar district administration.
The Public Works Department (PWD) has been allowed to resume construction activities in the state while abiding by safety precautions.
The COVID-19 hotspots in different parts of Uttar Pradesh, that have been sealed, will remain under complete lockdown and no movement of the residents will be allowed. Agra, Lucknow, Noida, Ghaziabad, Kanpur, Varanasi are among the 19 districts that have reported more than 10 coronavirus related cases.
The final decision on relaxation in these districts will be taken by the district magistrates but sources in the government say that it is highly unlikely that any relaxation will be announced in these districts by the authorities.
The decision of resuming operation in selective factories and industries will also be taken by the DMs keeping in mind the advisories issued by the Centre in the view of the lockdown in districts that are COVID-19 free or have reported less than 10 cases.
Also Read: Centre warns Kerala after the state govt resumes restaurants, workshops, transport amidst lockdown
The collection of toll tax will begin from midnight on April 20.
Delhi:
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in a press conference on Sunday clarified that no restrictions will be relaxed anywhere in the national capital at least till May 3. The Delhi government has identified 78 containment zones to date. These areas have been sealed and no person is being allowed to either enter or exit these containment zones. Police and local administration are facilitating doorstep delivery of essential items to the residents in these areas.
Punjab:
In a series of tweets on Sunday, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh said that a curfew will remain in force across the state till May 3. Apart from essential services, only farmers involved in wheat procurement and those concerned with farming activities have been exempted from these restrictions.
Kerala:
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Kerala Health Minister KK Shailaja have classified various districts across the state into red, orange (A & B), and green zones. While red zones continue to remain under lockdown owing to their identification as high-risk areas, limited restrictions have been relaxed in orange-A and orange-B zones while public transport such as auto-rickshaws will be allowed to operate locally while abiding by certain rules in green areas
Telangana:
Following a cabinet meeting on Sunday, Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao declared his government's decision to extend the ongoing statewide lockdown till May 7, three days more than the central government's standing instructions.
Karnataka:
In a statement on Monday, the Karnataka government extended the statewide lockdown till midnight of April 21. A cabinet meeting is scheduled to take place on Monday and the government is expected to make a final decision on the extension of the lockdown till May 3. A senior official said that the state government will also take note of the Centre's decision to permit limited activities with the intention of mitigating hardship faced by certain sections of society.
Haryana:
The Haryana government has devised a system to allow selected industries to function in the period between April 20 and May 3. A few industries that do not fall into red zones will be allowed to resume operations. For this purpose, passes of three different colors will be issued to concerned persons. While the green 'ordinary' pass will be issued to select industries and business organizations, red passes will be issued to essential workers and blue passes to construction workers.
In addition, farmers who will receive a text message from the state government will be permitted to transport their produce to mandis.
Committees have been constituted at block, town and city levels to accept applications in this regard and issue approvals.
While shops and dhabas along highways have also been added in the list of exemptions, these will be closely monitored by the state government.
Madhya Pradesh:
Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan told media outlets on Sunday that activities related to construction, agriculture, road repairs, and labour-related work that falls under the MGNREGA will be allowed to resume from Monday. However, the CM reiterated that no exceptions will be made in Indore, Bhopal, Ujjain and other cities that have reported large numbers of COVID-19 cases.
Himachal Pradesh:
In a video message on Sunday, Himachal Pradesh Director General of Police (DGP) Sita Ram Mardi said that no interstate or inter-district movement will be allowed even after April 20.
Bihar:
Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi on Sunday said that work on close to 40,000 projects in the state will begin in over 8,000 of the state's panchayats from April 20. The state government aims to employ over five lakh laborers for the pending projects.
For government offices in the state, employees have been divided into Group A, Group B, and Group C. While those in Groups A and B will have to be present in the office on working days, 33 percent of employees in Group C (including contractual worker) will have to report to their respective offices.
Chhattisgarh:
In a video message on Sunday, Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel said that limited economic activities will resume in the state from April 20 onwards. These include labor-work under MNREGA among others