The Ministry of Home Affairs announced on Thursday, October 28 that it has extended COVID-19 restrictions across the country until November 30 to prevent further spread of the infections.
The Ministry stated in its orders that the guidelines for the reopening of cinema halls, entertainment parks and public swimming pools issued on September 30 will now remain applicable until the end of November, in which the listed places will be allowed to open outside of contamination zones.
The announcement comes in light of growing concerns regarding a hike in cases as the festive season in the country commenced. India registered the highest single-day rise in cases since October 23, with 16,156 new infections being reported on Thursday.
The surge pushed the country’s case tally to 3,42,31,809, the Union Health Ministry confirmed. Meanwhile, the death toll due to COVID-19 rose to 4,56,386 with 733 people succumbing due to infections in the last 24 hours.
The guidelines issued for the phased reopening of the country effective from September 30 were to remain applicable until October 31 but have now been extended. As part of the guidelines, the lockdown shall be imposed strictly in the contaminant zones during this period.
The ministry had also stated earlier that it had advised the Chief Secretaries and administrators of all the states and union territories to ensure that it endorsed COVID-19 appropriate behaviour widely at the grassroots level to reduce the rate of infection and also urge the citizens to follow proper COVID-19 protocol with wearing masks and social distancing.
