Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday announced that all cinema halls in the Capital and schools and colleges not conducting examinations will be shut till March 31 due to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus pandemic, ANI reported.
“Disinfecting all public places, including government, private offices and shopping malls, has been made compulsory,” Kejriwal said, according to the Hindustan Times. Vacant flats owned by the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board will be used to quarantine people, he added. The decision was made at a meeting between Kejriwal, Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal and other government officials.
Coronavirus, officially known as COVID-19, has spread to 100 countries, infecting 1.27 lakh people and killing 4,717. The total number of coronavirus cases in India rose to 73 on Thursday after the latest government data included nine new patients from Maharashtra, three from Uttar Pradesh, and one from Ladakh. Out of the total number of cases in India, 19 have been reported from Delhi.
Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan told the Lok Sabha on Thursday that the government is checking the spread of coronavirus and people entering into the country are being screened for the infection.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said no central minister will travel abroad in the coming days. The government has also advised people to avoid all non-essential travel.
The coronavirus has hit Europe and the United States far harder than China’s most immediate neighbours in South Asia, where no one has died yet. United States President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced that he will suspend most travel from Europe to the US for the next 30 days. There are 1,135 confirmed cases of the virus across the US, with 38 deaths so far, according to BBC.
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