More sectors will be added only if infections are manageable, says trade & industry minister Ebrahim Patel
There is no fixed time-frame for the country to move from the current level 4 of the government’s lockdown strategy to level 3 as this would depend on the level of infections and the readiness of the health sector to cope with the coronavirus cases, trade & industry minister Ebrahim Patel said on Friday.
“It’s not that the economy needs to be in level 4 for a four-week period or a six-week period. If we see that we get all of the results showing that we can move rapidly to level 3 on a risk-based approach, then we can do so. In terms of government’s risk-adjusted approach to containing the spread of Covid-19, there are five levels of restrictions based on the health risk and the level of infections. Eventually this approach will differentiate between provinces and districts in terms of their level of infections and the lockdown level they have to comply with. The lower level of risk and the greater the level of health readiness, the greater the openness of the economy.
The level 4 regulations specify what sectors and sub sectors of the economy can begin operating and at what level of employment. All manufacturing operations are permitted, though some are restricted to operating at 30% of employment, increasing to 50% for certain sectors and 100% for others.
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