Malls, hotels, religious places set to reopen on Monday amid sharp uptick in coronavirus cases

A token system for regulated entry and no physical offerings like prasad' at temples will be some of the norms as shopping malls, religious places, hotels and restaurants are set to reopen in most states from Monday after over two months that could pose new challenges to check the spread of the coronavirus.

As India prepares for a calibrated exit from the lockdown by easing more restrictions, Unlock-1 kicks in at a time when the country recorded a daily jump of COVID-19 cases by over 9,000 for the fifth straight day on Sunday and also crossed the 10,000 mark for the first time. It is the first of the three-phase plan for reopening of prohibited activities in non-containment zones with a stringent set of Standard Operating Procedures(SOPs) which will be in place till June 30.

India registered its highest single-day spike of 9,971 new infections taking the total to 2,46,628 and 287 deaths in the 24 hours since Saturday morning, the Union Health Ministry said. The death toll stood at 6,929, it said.

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According to a PTI tally based on reports from states, the daily rise crossed the 10,000 mark for the first time to touch 10,218.

The number of active COVID-19 cases stands at 1,20,406 while a total of 1,19,292 people had recovered and one patient has migrated, the ministry added. Around 48.37 per cent of the patients have recovered so far, a senior ministry official said.

The new phase is especially challenging for the five worst affected states, accounting for nearly 70 per cent of the total coronavirus cases, and nearly 78 per cent of the deaths.

A visit to the shopping malls, hotels and restaurants and religious places will no longer be the same like before the lockdown imposed on March 25 after the Union Health Ministry issued the SOPs for strict adherence to contain the spread of COVID-19.

In the malls, cinema halls, gaming arcades and children play areas will continue to be in the prohibited segment.

The SOPs are advisory in nature and the Centre has left it to the states to finetune the details.

The Punjab government for example provides for a token-based entry to malls as part of its guidelines.

In Gujarat, some of the religious places have decided to organise prayers in shifts and even start a token system to specify time slots to devotees for visits in a bid to maintain social distancing and avoid crowding,

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced that the hospitals run by the Delhi government and private entities will only treat Delhiites during the coronavirus crisis while the city's borders with UP and Haryana will be reopened from Monday.

Addressing an online media briefing, Kejriwal said hospitals run by the Centre will have no such restriction, and if people from other states come to the national capital for specific surgeries, they can also get medical treatment at private hospitals.
He also said hotels and banquet halls will remain closed as the authorities may need these facilities to convert them into hospitals.

The Centre, meanwhile, defended the timing of the imposition of the lockdown and rejected as "baseless" media reports expressing concern that it did not take inputs from technical experts while drawing up its COVID-19 strategy.

Asserting that coronavirus is a "new agent" about which not everything is known, the Health Ministry also said it is "fine-tuning" its strategy based on emerging knowledge and experience on the ground.
In a statement, the ministry said there was all round consensus on the lockdown among all the state governments.

The government has already shared the information on the impact of lockdown and other restrictions on averting lakhs of infections and thousands of deaths, it added.

"The doubling rate of cases had dropped to a low level, pointing toward a dangerous trajectory of high case load and high mortality, as experienced by many western countries. The possibility that our health systems could soon be overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients, seemed to be real."