Tag: Outdoor Eating

  • Schools to reopen in districts with less than 5% covid positivity ratio: NCOC

    The National Command and Operations Centre on Wednesday allowed the reopening of schools in districts with less than five per cent coronavirus positivity ratio.

    The meeting reviewed the ongoing situation of coronavirus in the country.

    Key decisions

    From May 24, outdoor restaurants will be opened daily till 11:59 pm, and takeaway will be allowed 24/7.

    The tourism sector will be allowed to operate under strict coronavirus protocols.

    Outdoor marriage ceremonies with a limit of 150 individuals will be permitted.

    Opening of educational institutions from June 7 (other than those opened from May 24).

    Meanwhile cinemas, indoor dining, indoor gyms, amusement parks, shrines, all kinds of festivals, cultural and other events shall remain banned till further notice.

    June 1 onwards, several sectors will be allowed to open after a review meeting on May 27.

    In addition to this, the NCOC decided all SSC and HSSC exams will be held after June 20, while conducting professional and non-professional exams would take place on a case-to-case basis on recommendations from the Ministry of Education.

    The forum decided that wearing masks would remain compulsory.

    The NCOC had earlier imposed a lockdown in the country during the Eid holidays in order to stop the spread of the virus amid the deadly third wave.

  • Sharma, Pant others being investigated for possible bubble breach

    Sharma, Pant others being investigated for possible bubble breach

    Five members of the touring Indian team in Australia could be part of an investigation after being involved in a potential bio-bubble breach reportedly while interacting with a fan at a Melbourne restaurant on January 1.

    Cricket Australia issued a statement saying that “they were alerted to a video post” of five players – Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant, Prithvi Shaw and Navdeep Saini eating at an indoor venue, and that they are investigating the incident along with BCCI to determine a potential breach. In the meantime, as a precautionary measure, the players have been placed under isolation.

    On Friday, tweets by a fan went viral on social media, where he posted a video of the players enjoying a meal in Melbourne. Subsequent tweets by the individual mentioned that he had paid the bill on behalf of the players, following which Sharma interacted with him and Pant “hugged” him, and the team members posed for a photograph.

    While the fan earned plenty of support for his gesture on Twitter, and the story earned considerable traction on Indian media, there were concerns surrounding the safety of the players at a time when the teams have been placed in strict bio-secure bubbles due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

    Soon after reports of the possible breach came to light, the fan seemingly issued a clarification on social media, stating that Pant had not hugged him as tweeted earlier “as it was all said in excitement”, and insisted that there was “social distance maintained all through”.

    Concerns around player safety are serious particularly in Sydney, the venue of the third Test of the ongoing series. With the recent surge in Covid-19 cases in Sydney, there were reports that Melbourne, the venue of the second Test, could host the third Test as well. However, after negotiations between Cricket Australia and authorities in Queensland and New South Wales, Sydney Cricket Ground was retained as the venue for the third game of the series, currently tied 1-1.

    Meanwhile, according to Indian media, the Indian team management believes that the five players were indeed sitting outdoors as is allowed by protocols. They moved indoors only after there was a drizzle. The board is clear that the players did not do any activity that breaches the bio-secure bubble protocols.