Maharashtra government staff will have a daily heat test, masks must

It is not yet known when more people will come to work. (Proceedings)

New Delhi:

Maharashtra has reissued detailed guidelines sent by the Center to be followed in government offices for staff, including mandatory thermal screening, the use of disinfectants and social distancing. The guidelines made it clear that online systems, electronic filing, still need to be made the most of to minimize social contact.

Most government offices in the state, which has the highest number of coronavirus cases, have been operating with a very small workforce. In the Green Zones, which have no coronavirus cases, about 33 percent of people attend the office. The percentage of people in red zones, who have the maximum number of cases, can be as low as 5 percent.

It is not yet known when more people will come to work. But in his monthly Mann ki Baat speech today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi stressed the need to exercise more caution as the economy opens. “A large part of the economy has opened up and it is time to be more careful,” said the prime minister.

The Maharashtra government has yet to announce what relaxations it plans to allow starting June 1.

Last night, Maharashtra’s chief minister, Uddhav Thackeray, and the head of the Nationalist Congress Party, Sharad Pawar, had a 40-minute meeting to come up with a plan for the way forward for the state.

Sources said they decided to allow industries and e-commerce, including nonessentials, to be outside of containment zones, including in Mumbai and Pune.

Yesterday, a day before the end of the current phase of the blockade, the Center extended the national blockade until June 30 with a gradual plan to unlock the country.

Although markets have been opened and transportation (rail, road and air) has been restarted, since June 8, shopping malls, hotels, restaurants and places of worship can be opened, except in the areas with the highest number of cases. of coronavirus.

All previously banned activities will be phased in, the Interior Ministry said in the new guidelines.