At a time when everybody was expecting that there would be a lot of relaxations in lockdown after May 3 (May 7 in Telangana), the Centre has thrown a bomb on the people om Friday evening, stating that the lockdown will continue for two more weeks.
Instead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi making an announcement in the media, the Union home ministry quietly issued a notification announcing extension of lockdown for a further period of two weeks, that is, till May 17.
The ministry of home affairs said the decision was taken after realising that the lockdown measures had led to significant gains in the Covid-19 situation in the country.
The ministry also issued new guidelines to regulate different activities in this period, based on the risk profiling of the districts of the country into Red (hotspot), Green and Orange Zones.
The guidelines have permitted considerable relaxations in the districts falling in the green and orange zones.
It was only in the morning that the Centre declared six districts in Telangana – Hyderabad, Ranga Reddy, Vikarabad, Suryapet, Medchal-Malkajgiri, Warangal (urban) as Red Zones.
In Andhra Pradesh, five districts – Kurnool, Chittoor, Nellore, Krishna and Guntur districts would be under Red Zone.
For those who were expecting a lot of relaxations in the lockdown, the order came as a rude shock. Another two weeks of lockdown will definitely add to the frustration of the people and will have huge psychological effect. It will also have a massive impact on the economy.
But we have no option. Let us see what is in store for us in the next two weeks.
