30 states, UTs in complete lockdown over coronavirus

Death toll rises to 9; cases jump to 468; no domestic flights from today

24/03/2020
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NEW DELHI, Mar 23: A total of 30 states and Union Territories have imposed complete lockdown, covering a total of 548 districts in the country, to check the spread of coronavirus, the government said on Monday.
Six other states have put in place similar restrictions in some areas in the wake of the outbreak. There are 28 states, eight UTs and in the country. On Sunday, 80 districts were under lockdown.
The central government has also asked states to enforce additional restrictions, if necessary, leading to imposition of curfew in Punjab and Maharashtra.
As many people continued to venture out despite the lockdown order, Puducherry, besides Punjab & Maharashtra, also ordered curfew so that no one goes out of home.
A tweet by the Press Information Bureau said the states which have imposed lockdown in all districts include Chandigarh, Delhi, Goa, Jammu & Kashmir & Nagaland.
The other states are: Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Ladakh, Tripura, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Meghalaya, Jharkhand, Bihar, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Haryana, Daman Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Karnataka and Assam.
Prime Minister NarendraModi has appealed to state governments to ensure that rules and regulations of the coronavirus lockdown are enforced strictly as he noted that many people were not following the measures seriously.
"Many people are still not taking the lockdown seriously. Please save yourself, save your family, follow the instructions seriously. I request state governments to ensure rules and laws are followed," Modi said in a tweet in Hindi.
The death toll due to the novel coronavirus pandemic rose to nine on Monday after West Bengal and Himachal Pradesh reported a casualty each, while the number of confirmed cases soared to 468, the Union Health Ministry said. The central and state governments had on Sunday announced lockdown in about 80 districts where at least one confirmed case of Covid-19 was reported. Meanwhile, Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba wrote a letter to State Chief Secretaries urging them to monitor the situation round the clock.
Gauba said additional restrictions if necessary may be imposed and all current restrictions must be enforced strongly. All violations should be met with legal action, the Cabinet Secretary told the states and UTs.
The death toll due to the novel coronavirus pandemic rose to nine on Monday after West Bengal and Himachal Pradesh reported a casualty each, while the number of confirmed cases soared to 468, the Union Health Ministry said. The number of active COVID-19 cases are 424 now and 35 people have been cured/discharged/migrated, while nine have died, taking total number of confirmed cases to 468, including 40 foreign nationals, according to the ministry data.
West Bengal and Himachal Pradesh reported its first death due to COVID-19, while seven deaths were earlier reported from Maharashtra (2), Bihar, Karnataka, Delhi, Gujarat, and Punjab. According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), a total of "471 individuals have been confirmed positive among suspected cases and contacts of known positive cases".
A total of 20,707 samples from 19,817 individuals have been tested so far, the ICMR said. According to the Health Ministry data, Maharashtra has reported the highest number of COVID-19 cases at 74, including three foreigners, followed by Kerala at 67, including seven foreign nationals.
Karnataka has 33 cases of coronavirus patients after seven more persons tested positive for the deadly virus. The number of cases in Telangana have risen to 32, including 10 foreigners, it said. Uttar Pradesh has 31 positive cases, including a foreign national. Delhi and Gujarat have reported 29 cases each, while Rajasthan has 28 positive cases, including two foreign nationals. In Haryana, there are 26 cases, including 14 foreigners, while Punjab has 21 cases, according to the data.
Ladakh has 13 cases, while Tamil Nadu has nine cases, including two foreigners. West Bengal reported seven cases, while Madhya Pradesh has six cases so far. Chandigarh has six cases, while Andhra Pradesh reported seven cases. Jammu and Kashmir has four cases. Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh have reported three cases each, while there are two case each in Bihar and Odisha. Puducherry and Chhattisgarh have reported a case each. No domestic flights will operate from Wednesday, the government announced today in a massive step in India's fight to check the spread of coronavirus.
Airlines have to plan operations so as to land at their destination before 11.59 pm on Tuesday, the government said. Only cargo flights will be allowed.
International flights had already been banned for a week and most of the country's land borders have been sealed. Yesterday, trains, metros and inter-state buses were banned to stop the movement of people between states.
The government's announcement came as the number of coronavirus cases rose to 415 on Monday. There have been eight deaths. Scientists and experts have warned of an explosion of COVID-19 cases in a country like India - the world's second most populated - if drastic measures are not taken, including a lockdown and ban on public transport.
Yesterday, the centre had countered Delhi Chief Minister ArvindKejriwal when he said no flights would be allowed in or out of the capital. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation had put out a clarification saying there would be no change in domestic flight operations.
This morning, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee wrote to Prime Minister NarendraModi asking him to stop flights to Bengal. In her letter, she said Bengal had stopped buses and trains but flights continued, which was against the quarantine protocol. 19 states have gone on full lockdown, the health ministry said today.
Worldwide, coronavirus has claimed more than 13,000 lives and some 300,000 people are infected. The highly contagious disease spreads from person to person through contact or through respiratory droplets when a patient coughs or sneezes. Airlines across the world have been forced to cut down on their flights because of the coronavirus pandemic. A recent study by global aviation consultancy body CAPA said most airlines would face bankruptcy if the government does not intervene.

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