Unlock 5.0: Cinemas, restaurants to open with 50% force in J&K

Schools, colleges to stay shut till October 31 in the UT.

The Jammu and Kashmir administration issued fresh guidelines for Unlock 5.0 in the Union Territory on Friday.

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Giving details of the new order during a press conference here, disaster management secretary Simrandeep Singh said the UT administration has permitted opening of cinema halls, theatres, multiplexes, swimming pools, bars in restaurants/hotels, entertainment parks and coaching centres from October 15 with 50 percent capacity.

He said the number of pilgrims allowed to Shri Mata Vaishno Devi shrine has been raised to 7,000 per day, which was 5,000 earlier.

Schools, colleges, higher educational institutions including Anganwari centres shall remain closed till October 31 whereas online/ distance mode studies will continue.

Fifty percent teaching and non-teaching staff will be allowed in schools for online teaching purposes in areas outside containment zones. Students of classes 9 to 12 can visit schools on a voluntary basis for taking guidance in areas outside containment zones. Skill or entrepreneurship training will be permitted in National Skill Training Institutes, ITls and other such centres.

Higher education institutions will be permitted to open only for research scholars (PhD) and PG students in science and technical streams requiring lab/experimental works from October 15.

Coaching centres/ institutions outside the containment zones shall be permitted to run classes from October 15 at 50% percent capacity. Shops in malls and in the limits of municipal corporations will remain open from 9am to 9pm.

There will be no restrictions on entry of passengers, returnees or travellers coming to Jammu and Kashmir whether by road, rail or air, but Covid-19 antigen tests are mandatory. The travellers will undergo a 14-day home quarantine if they have a valid contactable phone and Aarogya Setu App in their mobile phones. The protocol for management of Covid positive persons will be followed.

As per the order, all districts of Kashmir province and nine districts of Jammu region have been declared as orange zones. Kishtwar district has been designated as green zone. However, Lakhanpur containment zone in Kathua district and Jawahar Tunnel area on either side will fall in the red zone category.

The UT administration has allowed cinemas, theatres, multiplexes to open from October 15 up to 50% of their seating capacity strictly as per the Centre’s SOPs.

Bars in restaurants/hotels, entertainment parks and similar places and swimming pools being used for training of sportspersons will also reopen from October 15 as per the SOPs of the concerned ministries. The business to business exhibitions can start from October 15 as per the Union commerce ministry’s SOPs.

Social, political, sports, entertainment, academic, cultural, religious functions and other gatherings and congregations have already been permitted with a ceiling of 100 persons. The administration has ordered that gathering in closed spaces will be permitted to a maximum of 50 percent of the hall capacity subject to a ceiling of 200 persons from October 15. In open spaces, physical distancing, wearing of masks and use of hand sanitisers are mandatory.

All these activities have been permitted only outside the containment zones.

The UT administration has raised the limit of pilgrims to Mata Vaishno Devi shrine up to 7,000 per day from October 15. However, it has entrusted the task of fixing the ceiling for pilgrims from outside J&K to the shrine board CEO.

Religious processions and large religious gatherings will remain strictly prohibited.

Meanwhile, movement of individuals for all non-essential activities will remain prohibited from 10pm to 5am while persons with co-morbidities, pregnant women and children under 10 years of age shall stay at home, except for health purposes.