NEW DELHI: With the number of coronavirus infections declining in the country, industry chamber FICCI has suggested the government to follow a graded approach in unlocking economic activities.
It said any unit that is able to create an isolation bubble should be allowed to operate at all times even if it does not qualify as essential.
The chamber said the ferocity of the second wave highlighted that waiting too long to impose restrictions can result in a surge of cases thus putting immense strain on medical infrastructure.
Learning from the first and second coronavirus waves, "FICCI suggests a graded approach to permissible economic activity which balances lives and livelihoods", it said in a letter to Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal.
It said that there should be surveillance testing on a continuous basis, even if number of cases come down sharply.
For example, at points of entry (airport, railway station), people should be randomly tested, FICCI added.
It added that units which have vaccinated at least 60 per cent of the workforce with a single dose can be exempted from restrictions.
"High touch point non-essential sectors like leisure activities, retail, etc, will only be permitted in a minimal risk situation (level 1) i.e. total positivity rate below 2.5 per cent. This restriction will prevail until a significant part of the population has been vaccinated with at least one dose," the chamber said.