As the number of coronavirus cases in the country continues to rise, the Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba has told the state governments that 15 lakh international travellers came to India over the last two month but there appears to be a discrepancy between the actual monitoring for COVID-19 and the total arrivals.
Mr. Gauba says there is a gap between actual no of passengers and those being monitored by the States which could seriously jeopardise the efforts to contain #COVID19.
— The Hindu (@the_hindu) March 27, 2020
Gauba wrote a letter to all the state governments highlighting the discrepancy in the numbers of those being observed for COVID-19 and the number of international travellers who came to India between the period of January 18 to March 23. He also added that a list of arrivals compiled by the Bureau of Immigration was already shared with the States and Union Territories.
Gauba cautioned the state heads that such a gap in the monitoring of international passengers may seriously jeopardise the efforts to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus, given that a large number of those who have tested positive for the virus so far in India had a history of international travel. Other patients also contracted the infection after coming into close contact with such persons.
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In the wake of the coronavirus outbreak in India, Prime Minister Modi swiftly reacted and imposed sweeping restrictions to keep India from descending into a disaster that could potentially dwarf the catastrophe endured by China, Italy, Spain, and the United States. He had called upon a total lockdown of the country for 21 days till April 15 to curtail the spread of the contagion and prevent it from overburdening the country’s public health system. India has so far registered about 700 positive coronavirus cases with 17 fatalities. But the number could surge as the country may enter the crucial third stage of the coronavirus outbreak which is normally characterised by the community and large-scale transmission. In the view of such a scenario, an all-encompassing lockdown except for essential services such as healthcare, banking and grocery stores for daily needs was ordered by the Indian PM on March 24, 2020.
