New Delhi: Amid a spike in Covid-19 cases in some regions, the Centre has issued a fresh set of guidelines which is effective from today, Dec. 1. 

These Covid-19 guidelines will remain in force till  Dec. 31. While issuing guidelines for “Surveillance, Containment and Caution” for December, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said the main focus of the directive is to consolidate the substantial gains which are visible in the steady decline in the number of active cases in the country. 

Here is the list of COVID-19 guidelines released by Home Ministry effective today:

1) States and Union Territories, based on their assessment of the situation, may impose local restrictions, such as night curfew. However, they cannot impose any local lockdown outside the containment zones without prior consultation with the Centre.

2) The Ministry said that local District, Police and Municipal  Authorities shall be responsible to ensure that the prescribed containment measures are strictly followed.

3) All activities have been permitted outside containment zones except for some which have been allowed with certain restrictions. 

These activities are international air travel of passengers, as permitted by MHA, cinema halls and theatres, with up to 50 percent capacity, swimming pools, only for training of sports persons and exhibition halls, only for business to business (B2B) purposes.

4) Social, religious, sports, entertainment, educational, cultural and religious gatherings in closed spaces are allowed with up to a maximum of 50 percent of the hall capacity with a ceiling of 200 persons. In open spaces, people will be allowed as per the size of the ground. 

6) There shall be no restriction on inter-State and intra-State movement of persons and goods including those for cross-land-border trade under treaties with neighbouring countries.

7) States and UTs will ensure careful demarcation of containment zones. Only essential activities shall be allowed in the containment zones and there shall be strict perimeter control to ensure that there is no movement of people in or out of these zones, except for medical emergencies and for maintaining the supply of essential goods and services.

8) Governments shall take all necessary measures to promote COVID-19 appropriate behaviour and to ensure strict enforcement of wearing of face masks, hand hygiene and social distancing. Administrative actions, including the imposition of appropriate fines on persons not wearing face masks in public and workspaces can be considered.

9) Online booking of groceries and doorstep delivery of those must be encouraged while incentives or discounts for those who shop during non-peak hours may be considered.