India on Sunday reported three more coronavirus deaths, including the first casualties from Bihar and Gujarat, taking the toll to seven. The number of COVID-19 cases surged to 360, the Union Health Ministry said. The Centre suspended all train, metro and interstate bus services across the country till March 31 in unprecedented steps to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus.
The government also completely shut down around 80 districts of India that have reported confirmed coronavirus cases and deaths.
In Gujarat, a 69-year-old man who had tested positive for coronavirus died at a hospital in Surat, NDTV reported. In a separate development, a 65-year-old woman died in a Vadodara Hospital but her test results for COVID-19 are awaited. Meanwhile, in Bihar a 38-year-old man who had a travel history to Qatar died at a hospital in Patna. He is the youngest person in the country to die after contracting the infection. In Maharashtra, the state that has reported highest number of COVID-19 cases in India, a 63-year-old man admitted to a private hospital in Mumbai died. “The patient had a chronic history of diabetes, high blood pressure and ischemic heart disease,” Mumbai’s civic body, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation said in a statement.
The Centre allowed six private labs to undertake coronavirus testing – four in Maharashtra, and one each in Gujarat and Karnataka.
As the number of positive cases rose, the government said that it is focussed on breaking the chain of transmission of the virus to check the spread of infection. “The biggest challenge in front of us is how to break the chain of COVID-19 transmission,” Balram Bhargava, director-general of Indian Council of Medical Research said at a press briefing. “To break the chain of transmission, the easiest method is to isolate the people coming from outside. The virus is not present in the air, it can be transmitted through droplets released...It’s important to isolate those who have come from abroad to curb the spread of coronavirus.”
Joint Health Secretary Lav Agarwal said the Centre has asked state governments to issue directions to those districts that have positive cases to stop all services except the essential services. He said essential services are clearly defined and include availability of food, ration, groceries, milk, medical services, transport of essential needs among others.
Agarwal also added that states should take measures to ensure that the poor don’t face problems in the districts that are under lockdown.
In Delhi, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said lockdown will be in place from 6 am on Monday to March 31. He also announced that no domestic or international flight will operate from the Delhi airport from Monday, but Directorate General of Civil Aviation refuted this and said no such ban was applicable, reported PTI. “Domestic flights to and from the Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi will continue to operate and the airport will remain functional,” an official said.
Several other states have also announced partial or entire shutdowns.
Here is a list of all the places that are under lockdown.
Meanwhile, millions of citizens across India stayed at home on Sunday, heeding Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “janata curfew” appeal to self-isolate themselves between 7 am and 9 pm to contain the spread of coronavirus in the country. While the curfew was voluntary and not an outright ban on movement of people, streets across India were empty. At 5 pm, people clapped and rang bells to show their appreciation for medical professionals, sanitation workers and others still working during the pandemic. Modi had asked citizens to stand at balconies and near windows to clap and ring bells to show gratitude to those on the frontline of the fight against the coronavirus.
The prime minister thanked the people but said it was the start of a long battle and the countrymen have proved that together they can defeat any challenge. He urged citizens to follow social distancing to stop the chain of transmission.
More than 3,00,000 people have contracted the novel coronavirus and at least 12,944 have died, according to an estimate by Johns Hopkins University.
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