Jharkhand govt not to implement lockdown relaxations for now

The Jharkhand government will not implement any of the relaxations granted by the Centre from Monday and has decided to extend "total" lockdown in the state for two more weeks till May 17.

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The Ministry of Home Affairs has given considerable relaxations for the third phase of the lockdown beginning Monday.

At a meeting on Sunday, the Jharkhand government decided that the relaxation norms would not apply to the state to protect residents in the aftermath of the arrival of a large number of stranded people from states "severely" affected by COVID-19.

"It was felt that there is a need to take a cautious approach as many of the migrant workers have started entering the state from various states affected severely by COVID-19. It was accordingly decided not to implement any new relaxation in all three zones," according to the minutes of the meeting, a copy of which was released to the media. Regarding the interstate movement of migrant labourers, students, tourists and other people, it was decided that priority would be accorded to those stranded in green and orange zones, it said.

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"The central government's fresh instructions regarding relaxations will not be applied to Jharkhand at present. As students, migrant labourers and others are returning home, this is necessary to protect the health of the people of the state," Chief Minister Hemant Soren had tweeted on Sunday.

The state government had on April 27 announced that it would not implement the Centre's guidelines on opening of standalone and neighbourhood shops due to a sudden spurt in the number of coronavirus cases in the state.

The state now has 85 active cases. Twenty-seven people have recovered while three people suffering from coronavirus have died.