Unlock 1.0: Religious places, shopping malls, hotels, restaurants reopen

Shopping malls, religious places, hotels, and restaurants are now set to reopen in most states from today (i.e. June 8, Monday) after more than two months of sustained lockdown. The current phase of re-opening, called 'Unlock 1', takes an economic focus. The government intends on being smart about implementing the lockdown in select places so that the economic activity of the country, as a whole, does not take any more hits.

Safety guidelines like following social distancing protocols, wearing a mask, and installing the 'Aarogya Setu' mobile app has been made mandatory for people visiting these places. Temples, shopping malls, hotels, and restaurants had already started the preparation for following safety measures in the wake of the pandemic, once the guidelines were announced.

The temples, mosques, and churches have painted social distancing boxes where the devotees will have to stand in queue and wait for their turn, while masks have been made mandatory for all, including the priests as well.

Sanitisation work and preparations were seen to have been conducted at the Gurdwara Bangla Sahib in Delhi. A chamber has been installed at gurdwara's entry point to curb the spread of COVID-19 outbreak. On the other side, the Hanuman Temple authorities of Delhi's Connaught Place are following strict guidelines of government amid COVID-19 fear.

While speaking to news agency ANI, the priest of Hanuman Temple, Mahant Jagannath Das said, 'We will not allow entry of more than 5-10 devotees at a time. Each devotee will have to pass through the sanitisation tunnel installed at the entry gate." He added, "'Prasad' will not be distributed by the priests."

According to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare guidelines, the touching of idols or holy books, choir or singing groups, and physical offerings like prasad, distribution of holy water are not allowed.

The Health Ministry had also released the standard operating procedure (SOPs) for malls, restaurants, and hotels as they plan to open these establishments under relaxed guidelines from today. But a lot of details were also left to the discretion of the states to finetune.

The SOPs include measures like allowing only asymptomatic staff and guests inside the premises and proper crowd management.

Under generic preventive measures, persons above 65 years of age, persons with comorbidities, pregnant women and children below the age of 10 years are advised to stay at home, except for essential and health purposes. 

The ministry also asked hotels and restaurant owners to encourage a contactless mode of ordering and digital payments using e-wallets.

Hotels and hospitality services have been asked to ensure a proper record of the guest's travel history and medical condition, along with ID and self-declaration form.

"Luggage should be disinfected before sending the luggage to rooms. For room service, communication between guests and in-house staff should be through intercom/ mobile phone and room service (if any) should be provided while maintaining adequate social distance," it said.

In SOPs released for restaurants, the ministry has curtailed the seating capacity to 50%, has advised disposable menus and use of disposable paper napkins instead of cloth napkins. 

Restaurants have also been asked to encourage takeaways instead of dine-in.

"Food delivery personnel should leave the packet at the customer's door. Do not handover the food packet directly to the customer," it said.

For air-conditioning and ventilation, the ministry said the guidelines of CPWD shall be followed which inter alia emphasizes that the temperature setting of all air conditioning devices should be in the range of 24-30 degrees Celsius, relative humidity should be in the range of 40-70% and intake of fresh air should be as much as possible and cross ventilation should be adequate.

The new rules are not applicable in all states, however. For example, in Odisha, the state government has extended the coronavirus disease (COVID-19)-necessitated lockdown till the midnight of June 30. Hence, all religious establishments and places of worship will continue to remain closed in Odisha till June 30.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had also said that places of worship and restaurants in the national capital will be allowed to reopen, however, he specified that hotels and banquet halls will remain closed.