States like Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu on Sunday have extended the Covid-19 lockdown till May 31.
Earlier on Saturday evening, Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh said the lockdown in the state will continue till May 31, though his government will lift the curfew restrictions.
Maharashtra state chief secretary Ajoy Mehta has issued an order notifying extension of the lockdown, the official said.
'The calibrated phase-wise relaxation/lifting of lockdown orders will be notified in due course,' the order said.
The present lockdown was valid from May 2 to 17.
'Lockdown 3.0 ends today. Lockdown 4.0 will come into effect tomorrow and will be valid till May 31. There will be some relaxations in the fourth phase,' he said.
'The green and orange zones will get more relaxations, in terms of starting more services. As of now only essential services are operational, he said.
Maharashtra has recorded 30,706 Covid-19 cases of which 22,479 are active. The death toll is 1135, while 7,088 patients have been discharged after recovery.
In Tamil Nadu, chief minister K Palaniswami announced new relaxations such as resumption of intra-district transportation in 25 districts after a hiatus of nearly two months.
In 12 other districts, including Chennai, there will be no change in the curbs and they will continue as existed during the third phase of lockdown, set to end on Sunday, he added.
Citing consultations with top officials, public health and medical experts, he said the lockdown is extended till May 31 and the curbs including bar on functioning of educational institutions, public entry into religious places and relaxations already in force will continue throughout the state.
Palaniswami announced new relaxation in curbs for 25 districts, including Coimbatore, Salem, Erode, Tirupur, Namakkal and Karur, where people could avail government and private buses for commute within the district and they do not need 'TN e-pass,' (permission for travel), he said.
Effective March 24 evening, public transport ceased to operate in the state as part of lockdown measures.
Karnataka govt extends existing lockdown measures by 2 days
The Karnataka government on Sunday extended the existing Covid-19 lockdown measures in the state by two days.
Chief Secretary T M Vijay Bhaskar has ordered all departments of the state government, Deputy Commissioners of districts, Police Superintendents and Department heads to continue with the existing guidelines issued on May 2 for the control of Covid-19.
The existing guidelines will continue until further orders or till May 19 midnight, which ever is first, the order said.
Expressing confidence about the Centre announcing relaxation to 'many things' after May 17, once lockdown 3.0 comes to an end, Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Friday had said the state government would wait for the centre's guidelines before announcing measures.
The nationwide lockdown was initially imposed from March 25 to April 14, then extended to May 3 and again to May 17 to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.
The Karnataka government had hinted about permitting opening of gyms, fitness centres and golf courses, also certain hotels for local tourism purposes after May 17, subject to guidelines from the Centre.
During the recent videoconferencing Prime Minister Narendra Modi had with Chief Ministers of various states, Yediyurappa had proposed doing away with district wise colour coding and instead advocated strict cordoning of containment zones to control the spread of pandemic.
He had pitched for resuming all economic activities in stand-alone establishments, while continuing restrictions on malls, cinema halls, dining facilities and establishments with centrally controlled air-conditioning.
The CM had suggested that 50 to 100 meters around known clusters may be declared as containment zones and commercial activities, including public transport, to be allowed in non- containment zones.
