Unlock 1.0: Health Ministry Issues Guidelines For Offices, Religious Places, Hotels, Restaurants | Know What Are The New Norms

The Health Ministry has released new guidelines for reopening offices, religious places, hotels and restaurants, amid the Covid-19 crisis.

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New Delhi: The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) on Thursday issued a Standard Operating Protocol (SOP) on preventive measures to contain the spread of coronavirus in religious places, offices, hotels and restaurants.

Here is a compiled list of key precautionary norms that are required to be followed:

Religious Places

• Religious places inside containment zones shall remain closed for public and the ones outside will be allowed to open.
• Touching of statues, idols and holy books should not be allowed and large gatherings to be prohibited.
• It is important that required social distancing and other preventive measures are followed in those premises.
• Visitors have to be staggered. Footwears to be preferably taken-off inside own vehicle. If needed they should be kept in separate slots for each individual/ family by the persons themselves.
• Social distancing norms (a minimum distance of 6ft) need to be followed.
• Recorded devotional music or songs may be played and choir or singing groups should not be allowed.
• Common prayer mats should be avoided and devotees should bring their own mat or piece of cloth to sit on, which they may take back with them.
• No physical offerings like prasad/distribution or sprinkling of holy water, etc should be allowed.
• Community kitchens, langars, 'Ann-Daan' etc at religious places should follow physical distancing norms while preparing and distributing food.
• People aged above 65, having comorbidities, pregnant woman and children below the age of 10 years are advised to stay at home and avoid visiting religious places.
• Hand hygiene (sanitizer dispenser) needs to be ensured and the entrance needs to mandatorily have thermal screening.
• Asymptomatic people should be allowed inside the premises with face cover or masks.
• Installation and use of Aarogya Setu App should be advised to all.
• The management must ensure frequent cleaning and disinfection of the floors and other surfaces.
• In case of a suspect or confirmed case in the premises, the ill person should be placed in an isolated room or area and the nearest medical facility (hospital/clinic) should be informed. The premises should be disinfected if the person is found positive.

#IndiaFightsCorona @MoHFW_INDIA has issued an SOP on preventive measures to be followed in places of worship to contain spread of #COVID19 https://t.co/NC8D1KTc8b#CoronaOutbreak #SwasthaBharat #HealthForAll

— Ministry of Health (@MoHFW_INDIA) June 4, 2020

Offices

•  Persons above 65 years of age, persons with co-morbidities, and pregnant women have been advised to stay at home, except for essential and health purposes.
• Offices in containment zones will remain closed except for medical and essential services. Only those outside containment zones will be allowed to open up.
• When one or a few persons who share a room/close office space is/are found to be suffering from symptoms suggestive of Covid-19: a. Place the ill person in a room or area where they are isolated from others at the workplace. Provide a mask/face cover till such time he/she is examined by a doctor. b. Immediately inform the nearest medical facility - hospital/clinic - or call the state or district helpline. c. A risk assessment will be undertaken by the designated public health authority - District RRT/Treating physician - and accordingly further advice shall be made regarding the management of the case, his/her contacts and the need for disinfection. d. The suspect case if reporting very mild/mild symptoms on the assessment by the health authorities would be placed under home isolation. e. Suspect case, if assessed by health authorities as moderate to severe, will be treated as per health protocol at an appropriate health facility. f. The rapid response team of the concerned district shall be requisitioned and will undertake the listing of contacts. g. The necessary actions for contact tracing and disinfection of the workplace will start once the report of the patient is received as positive. The report will be expedited for this purpose. However, if there are large numbers of contacts from a pre-symptomatic/asymptomatic case, the essential principles of risk assessment, isolation, and quarantine of contacts, case referral, and management will remain the same. The scale of arrangements will be higher.

#IndiaFightsCorona #CoronaVirusUpdates @MoHFW_INDIA has issued an SOP on preventive measures to be followed in offices to contain spread of #COVID19. https://t.co/Et93VoSzOP@PMOIndia @drharshvardhan @AshwiniKChoubey @PIB_India @CovidIndiaSeva @COVIDNewsByMIB

— Ministry of Health (@MoHFW_INDIA) June 4, 2020

Hotels & Restaurants

•  Allow only asymptomatic staff and guests inside the premises and proper crowd management.
• Employees who are at higher risk - like older staff members or those who are pregnant or have underlying medical conditions - need to take extra precautions. They should preferably not be exposed to any front-line work requiring direct contact with the public.
• Proper crowd management in the parking lots and outside the premises duly following social distancing norms should be ensured.
• Preferably separate entry and exits for patrons, staff and goods/supplies to be organised.
• Hotels and restaurant owners should encourage a contactless mode of ordering and digital payments (using e-wallets).
• Hotels and hospitality services need to keep 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 the 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.
• Gaming arcades/children play areas (wherever applicable) shall remain closed.
• The seating capacity has been curtailed to 50 percent. Disposable menus are advised to be used. Instead of cloth napkins, the use of disposable paper napkins should be encouraged.
• Restaurants have 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.
• The staff for home deliveries shall be screened thermally by the restaurant authorities prior to allowing home deliveries.
• Entrance to have mandatory hand hygiene (sanitizer dispenser) and thermal screening provisions and only asymptomatic staff and patrons to be allowed.
• Staggering of customers to be done, if possible. Adequate manpower should be deployed by restaurant management for ensuring social-distancing norms.
• Specific markings can be made with sufficient distance to manage the queue and ensure social distancing in the premises.

For air-conditioning and ventilation, the ministry said the guidelines of CPWD shall be followed which inter alia emphasises 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 percent and intake of fresh air should be as much as possible and cross ventilation should be adequate.

#IndiaFightsCorona@MoHFW_INDIA has issued SOP on preventive measures in Hotels and Other Hospitality Units to contain spread of #COVID19 https://t.co/pFxYISqDCH@PMOIndia @drharshvardhan @AshwiniKChoubey @PIB_India @CovidIndiaSeva @COVIDNewsByMIB @mygovindia

— Ministry of Health (@MoHFW_INDIA) June 4, 2020

(With Inputs From Agencies)

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