All public gatherings will continue to be prohibited; schools, malls and restaurants will remain shut, and flights and Metro services will remain suspended till May 31 as the Centre extended the ongoing countrywide lockdown to combat the Covid-19 spread on Sunday.

According to a nine-page list of guidelines issued by the Union home ministry, all domestic, international air travel of passengers, except domestic air ambulance, will remain prohibited.

Metro rail services, schools, colleges will remain closed till May end. Hotels, restaurants, cinema halls, malls, swimming pools, gyms will also remain shut even as all social, political, religious functions, and places of worship will be closed till May 31, the guidelines said.

The MHA said inter-state movement of passenger vehicles, buses will be allowed with mutual consent of states involved during lockdown 4.0.

States and Union territories have been given the powers to delineate Red, Green and Orange Zones as per Covid-19 situation, the MHA said.

All shops, except those in containment zones and malls, will be allowed to open from Monday with staggered timings.

Sunday’s guidelines came soon after the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) extended the national lockdown beyond Sunday till May-end.

The announcement was made more than six hours after finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the fifth and last tranche of a Rs 20 lakh crore stimulus package to revive a stagnating economy.

The death toll due to Covid-19 rose to 2,872 and the number of total positive cases climbed to 90,927 Sunday morning, according to the Union health ministry.

The lockdown was first announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 24 for 21 days with effect from March 25. It was then extended till May 3 and again till May 17.

Highlights of the guidelines:

• All domestic, international air travel of passengers, except domestic air ambulance, remains prohibited till May 31
  
  
• Metro rail services, schools, colleges to remain closed
  
  
• Hotels, restaurants, cinema halls, malls, swimming pools, gyms to remain shut
  
  
• All social, political, religious functions, and places of worship to remain shut
  
  
• Inter-state movement of passenger vehicles, buses to be allowed with mutual consent of states involved
  
  
• States, UTs given powers for delineation of Red, Green and Orange Zones as per Covid-19 situation
  
  
• District authorities to demarcate “containment” and “buffer” areas within Red and Orange zones as per Union health ministry guidelines
  
  
• Movement of people will remain strictly prohibited across the country from 7pm to 7am, except for essential activities
  
  
• Those above 65 years, persons with co-morbidities, pregnant women, children aged below 10 shall stay at home
  
  
• All shops, except those in containment zones and malls, will be allowed to open from Monday with staggered timings