Rajasthan, which had gone in for a partial lockdown from April 18 for two weeks has decided to extend it. This lockdown which excluded crucial services finished yesterday at 5 a.m. Now the extended lockdown is till May 17.

Till Monday, as per the official figures, the State had reported 1,89,178 active cases.

While the earlier lockdown was called ‘Public Discipline Fortnight’, its extension which has more rigorous restrictions has been renamed as ‘Pandemic Red Alert – Jan Anushashan Pakhwara.’

In the new restrictions introduced there will be a curfew on weekends, which will begin Friday and last until 5 a.m. Monday. For the remaining days, the curfew will be there from 12 noon to 5 a.m. the next day.

In order to curb movement of people rather strictly, the State Government has stated that all those people who are not in the permitted categories and are found “roaming unnecessarily” will be put in institutional quarantine until their RT-PCR report returns negative.

This time on, the number of people permitted for weddings has been trimmed to 31. Earlier it was 50 persons. The wedding will be allowed to go only for a maximum duration of three hours only.

To ensure that those who attend the wedding can be traced in future, the family needs to provide the list of the maximum 31 guests to the concerned Sub Divisional Magistrate before the wedding.

The Government has also made the penalty harsher for those not following this rule. The fine for having more guests than the permissible limit has been increased to Rs 1 lakh from Rs 25,000. Also the wedding ceremonies needs to be recorded with the copies to be provided to the concerned SDM when asked.

The public parks will now be open only between 5 a.m. and 11 a.m.

Elucidating on the need for restrictions, the State Chief Minister, Ashok Gehlot, said that as compared to last year, apart from infections, the rate of deaths was high, and this has put the health institutions under pressure. Therefore, he said the citizens of the State are expected to exercise restraint and order to help the State in battling the pandemic.

Following are the terms and conditions of the extended lockdown.

• All workplaces, except a few Government offices engaged in COVID management, and markets would remain closed.
•  Retail and wholesale shops of grocery, flour mills, cattle feed will remain open for five hours from 6 a.m. to 11 a.m. on weekdays.
•  Dairy shops would operate daily from 6 a.m. to 11 a.m. and from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.
• Wholesale markets, vegetable and fruit shops, garland vendors will continue to operate daily from 6 a.m. to 11 a.m.
• Vendors who sell fruits and vegetables on pull carts, e-rickshaws and others would also be allowed from 6 a.m. to 11 a.m. daily.
• Optical shops will also be allowed to open on Tuesday and Friday from 6 a.m. to 11 a.m.

The Rajasthan Government has formed a group of three IAS officers to look into the possibilities of timely procurement of oxygen concentrators and other necessary equipment required for coronavirus patients. The members of this group are Subodh Agarwal, Preetam B Yashwant and Tina Dabi.

These officers have been given the responsibility of looking for the possibilities of early procurement of oxygen concentrators, oxygen regulators, humidifier and other equipment and will decide the modalities of the procurement, said an order issued by the Health Department.

The State Transport Department issued an order on Sunday inviting applications for tankers on rent for transportation of liquid oxygen. For the purpose of deciding the rental fee, a six-member committee has also been constituted.

The State Government has started the procedure to procure oxygen concentrators from China and Russia. The Government wants to procure 10,000 concentrators in two phases from China and 1,100 from Russia.