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Coronavirus pandemic: Air India crew that helped evacuate Indians ostracised by RWA, airline appeals to treat them with dignity

OpIndia Staff
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Coronavirus pandemic: Air India crew that helped evacuate Indians ostracised by RWA, airline appeals to treat them with dignity

Air India has been running operations to evacuate Indian citizens stuck in foreign countries struck gravely by the Wuhan Coronavirus pandemic. However, members of the flight crew are facing ostracization in their neighbourhood, Air India has said on social media. The airline has requested people to ensure that “our crew are treated with the courtesy, respect and freedom that every citizen of this country deserves especially in light of the fact of their having undertaken flight duties to affected countries to bring back Indian citizens.

Source: Air India/Twitter

Air India said in its press release, “It is alarming to note that in many localities, vigilante Resident Welfare Associations and neighbours have started ostracizing the crew, obstructing them from performing their duty or even calling in the police, simply because the crew travelled abroad in the course of their duty. These vigilantes have conveniently forgotten that many a spouse, parent, sibling, child and near and dear one have been brought home safe and secure from affected countries, thanks to the heroic efforts of these Air India crew.”

Air India also said that every precaution was taken to ensure the safety of its screw during the flights abroad that were made. Sanitizers, gloves and masks in ample amounts were also provided to the crew during the flights. “Crew members who are landing into India from affected cities are sent on home quarantine and also to designated hospitals for check-up as part of the protocol,” the press release said.

The Indian Government, and numerous state governments, has stepped up efforts to combat the Wuhan Coronavirus pandemic in the meantime. Interstate passenger transport has been suspended, metro railway services have been stopped until the 31st of March as well. Numerous districts across the country have been put on lockdown. Only essential services will continue to operate during the lockdown.

Suffering through Modi’s #ThaliBajao abhiyan is worse than dying from​ a mysterious Chinese virus. Like, seriously!

Nirwa Mehta
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Suffering through Modi’s #ThaliBajao abhiyan is worse than dying from​ a mysterious Chinese virus. Like, seriously!

I need a therapist. Coronavirus has led to a total lockdown and I have been spending past 10 days at home on forced quarantine with my Sanghi father. UGH. This is even worse than dying with mysterious, terrifying bat-virus induced Chinese virus. I mean, c’mon. How can a country that manufactures products that go kaput in less than 2 weeks created a f*cking virus that just refuses to die even after almost three months.

And now I am forced to live 24×7 with my Sanghi family who voted for Modi. 

On Thursday, when Modi addressed the nation on coronavirus outbreak situation in India, I live tweeted and even used #moronavirus hashtag because Modi asked everyone to clap instead of telling us what he has been doing to stop this pandemic. Matlab, doesn’t he know the loud noise aggravates my migraine? And how is this noise pollution a good idea to thank health workers? As responsible citizens, I am paying my taxes and that pays their salaries. That is my way of thanking them.

When my favourite comedian tweeted how he’ll show middle finger to Modi’s call for action, I knew there is still hope in the world. I was pretty confident that no one is that jobless enough to clap in balconies. How many people even have balconies in their houses? And after all, Delhi voted for Kejriwal. No way these people are going to be bhakts. 

But then he tells people to go and clap in their balconies at 5 PM on a Sunday. Because, clearly, people have nothing better to do. BUT then at 4:30 PM my Sanghi father rushed to balcony with a Shankh. WHY DO HINDUS HAVE SHANKH JUST LYING AROUND RANDOMLY IN THEIR HOMES? He went and clapped and entire colony joined in.

HOW COULD THEY DO THIS? Not even two months back you showed Modi his place and he lost elections. And now this? Even my Mallu neighbour uncle who hates Modi’s guts and believes coronavirus is a hype was also out in his balcony clapping. 

I hate this coronavirus shit. China, get your act together and don’t make such viruses again. The morally corrupt nation doesn’t deserve you. 

14 states in India announce complete or partial lockdown to prevent spread of Coronavirus: Here are the details

OpIndia Staff
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14 states in India announce complete or partial lockdown to prevent spread of Coronavirus: Here are the details

Even as India observes the 14 hour Janta Curfew called by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, several states have announced complete or partial lockdown in the wake of Wuhan Coronavirus outbreak. Today the union government had asked the states to enforce lockdown in 75 districts where Covid-19 positive cases were reported and had also advised that states can expand the area under lockdown based on their assessment.

As of now, the following states have announced complete or partial lockdown:

  1. Odisha
  2. Rajasthan
  3. Punjab
  4. Chandigarh
  5. Uttarakhand
  6. West Bengal
  7. Maharashtra
  8. Nagaland
  9. Delhi
  10. Bihar
  11. Jharkhand
  12. Gujarat
  13. Karnataka
  14. Uttar Pradesh

Odisha was the first state to announce near total lockdown yesterday. The lockdown has been announced in five districts and seven towns in the state from the 22nd March to 29th March. Majority of people who recently returned from foreign countries belong to these areas, that’s why initially these areas have been put under lockdown. The five districts are, Khurdha, Cuttack, Ganjam, Kendrapada, Angul, and the seven towns are Puri, Rourkela, Sambalpur, Jharsuguda, Balasore, Jajpur Road and Jajpur Town and Bhadrak.

Earlier today, Rajasthan and Punjab governments announced complete lockdown of the states till 31st March. In Rajasthan, all government and private offices will cease operations, and malls, shops, factories and public transport will also remain shut. The borders or Rajasthan with other states will also be sealed. Only essential services and medical facilities will remain open to the public during this period.

Punjab government also announced that shops, Commercial establishments selling non-essential items will remain closed while factories involved in the manufacture of essential items will remain operational.

Union territory Chandigarh announced lockdown today to prevent spread of Covid-19. All ‘non-essential establishments’, including offices, schools, colleges, factories and other business establishments in the city will remain closed till March 31. All public transport has also been suspended.

Uttarakhand chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat informed on Twitter that the state will be under lockdown till 31st March. He announced that all transport in the state, both local and interstate, will remain suspended.

West Bengal government has announced lockdown in the state from 23rd March to 27th March. During this period, no public transport including taxis, auto-rickshaws will be permitted, except visit to and from hospitals, airports, railway stations, bus stations, and vehicles carrying food and essential commodities. All shops, offices, factories etc will also remain shut.

North-eastern state Nagaland has also announced restrictions due to the threat of Covid-19 from the midnight of March 22. All inter-state entry points will be sealed and no vehicle carrying passengers will be allowed to enter the state, while all commercial passenger vehicles, both public and private, will not ply on roads.

Two days after ordering the closure of non-essential offices in Maharashtra, the Uddhav Thackeray government today announced lockdown in the state. Section 144 of the IPC has been imposed in the state from tomorrow, and both private and public buses will stop operating.

Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal has also announced complete lockdown in the state. All public transport like taxis and autos will be not allowed to ply, while a limited number of DTC buses will operate to allow people involved with essential services to move. All non-essential shops and religious places will remain closed in Delhi till 31st March. Construction activities will also remain suspended, and no international and domestic flights will be allowed to travel from and to Delhi during this period. All borders of the state will be sealed, only vehicles carrying essential items will be allowed to enter. Restaurants will be allowed only for take way and food delivery services.

Delhi government has also imposed section 144 in the state, prohibiting gathering of people in the entire state. Demonstrations, processions, protests etc also prohibited, which is important given that anti-CAA protests by Muslims continue in the capital ignoring the threat of the deadly pandemic. Those who violate the restrictions will be punishable under section 188 of the IPC. The prohibitory order comes into effect from 9 PM tonight and continue till 31st March, which means the anti-CAA protests at Shaheen Bagh and other places in Delhi will have to be called off, if the administration is able to impose the restriction on the protesters.

On the evening on 22nd March, Bihar also announced lockdown of the state, shutting all non-essential services till 31st March.

Later in the evening, the Jharkhand government also followed suit and ordered complete lockdown in the state. All government offices not related to essential services, all shops except shops selling essential daily use items, all public transport will remain shut in the state till 31st March. The government has also banned the assembly of more the five people at a place and asked the citizens to remain in their homes.

Some other states have announced partial lockdown in selected districts. In Gujarat, Amdavad, Surat, Vadodara, Rajkot, Gandhinagar and Kutch districts have been put under lockdown, while in Karnataka the restrictions have been imposed in Bangalore Urban, Bangalore rural, Dakshina Kannada, Chikkaballapura, Kalburgi, Mysore, Kodagu, Belgaum, Dharwad. Similarly, in Uttar Pradesh, lockdown has been announced in 15 districts.

Other states where complete lockdown has not been announced, restrictions in large public gatherings have been banned to prevent the spread of Wuhan Coronavirus.

Read: Coronavirus Pandemic: Union Govt announces lockdown in 75 Covid-19 affected districts; trains, metros, interstate passenger transport suspended

In Assam, city bus services have been suspended from 22nd to 24th March. Several districts in the state have individually imposed section 144 banning large gatherings, festivals etc. Most Bihu committees in the state have announced that there will be no Bihu functions this year, which would have started from 13th April. All states in North East having the Inner Line Permit system has suspended issuing ILPs, meaning people from outside the state can’t enter those states. These states are Manipur, Nagaland, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh. Sikkim has also restricted entry of people from outside the state.

Apart from these, 75 districts in the country, where coronavirus positive cases have emerged, have been put under complete lockdown as per the advisory of the union government. Those 75 districts are spread across 22 states.

During lockdowns, all shops selling non-essential items will remain shut. Shops selling groceries and vegetables, milk, medicine and other essential items will be allowed to remain open. While public transport will not work during the lockdown, people will be allowed to travel in their private vehicles, subject to maintaining social distancing and sanitisation protocols. Petrol pumps, banks and ATMs will also remain functioning lockdown period.

22 states and union territories have seen Covid-19 cases so far. Only Goa, Jharkhand, the eight north-eastern states have not reported any case so far. Along with Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Andaman, and Lakshadweep.

From Sharad Pawar, Rajdeep Sardesai to Aam Janata, people unite to show gratitude to those fighting Coronavirus pandemic: Here are some visuals

OpIndia Staff
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From Sharad Pawar, Rajdeep Sardesai to Aam Janata, people unite to show gratitude to those fighting Coronavirus pandemic: Here are some visuals

Responding to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call to show gratitude to health workers who are at the forefront of the coronavirus fight, citizens of the country enthusiastically stood at their gates, balconies across the country to clap and cheer up the health workers.

People, who had locked their homes on Sunday because of the lockdown over the Coronavirus, appeared in their balconies and porches minutes before 5 pm and tried to boost the morale of workers by drumming up utensils, blowing up the trumpets.

Many celebrities, political leaders including from the opposition parties, sportspersons supported the call made by Prime Minister Modi and came out of their residences to express their gratitude to every individual who has been fighting the war to protect the citizens of the country.

NCP supremo Sharad Pawar, one of the leading face of the opposition parties in the country, came out of his residence and clapped for minutes along with his family.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath clanged bell in Gorakhpur to express gratitude to those providing essential services amid Coronavirus pandemic.

Jyotiraditya Scindia, the newly inducted BJP member, along with his family, took to his balcony and cheered for the health workers, officials who are battling out to end COVID-19.

Adnan Sami also took to Twitter to share the videos of himself applauding to the service provided by doctors, nurses, police, etc during the outbreak. He said it was his greatest ‘Goosebump’ movement.

Andhra Pradesh CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy also participated in the exercise called by PM Modi to express gratitude.

BJP MP Rajeev Chandrashekhar also joined his locality remembers in clapping and cheering of emergency workers.

Rajdeep Sardesai and his wife Sagarika Ghose, the faces of the anti-Modi brigade, also took part in the initiative to support PM Modi’s call to share their gratitude with health workers, police, etc.

Malini Parthasarthy, the co-chairperson of left-wing The Hindu, along with her house team saluted the brave warriors battling COVID.

Delhi Police also joined the citizens in thanking the health workers by honking their sirens for five minutes in the national capital.

Citizens thronged to their balconies to express their gratitude towards the great people of the country who have been fighting to end the Coronavirus outbreak.

“Such a beautiful moment! Thank You, people, for the cooperation. We will fight this,” tweeted a social media user.

Harridan, a social media user, tweeted emotionally to state that she was crying watching the people’s reaction to PM Modi’s call.

Another social media user had posted the image of a little baby saying thank you to doctors and other emergency staffs for their exemplary work during these tough times.

A user shared a special image of her specially-abled child expressing gratitude to the health workers and others by blowing a trumpet.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had urged people of India to show the gesture while he addressed the nation on Thursday asking to ensure social distancing and Janata curfew to break the chain of spreading coronavirus.

Why Janata curfew matters: We can’t let Communists look like their method wins

Abhishek Banerjee
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Why Janata curfew matters: We can’t let Communists look like their method wins

The Indian Railways has ground to a halt. The streets are deserted. Shops are closed. People are in their homes, too scared to come out. India fears the fate of Europe, where nearly 1500 people died from the Wuhan Coronavirus yesterday. In the US, tens of thousands of people are already affected.

Why did this happen? Why has civilization stopped suddenly? Why are we in this crisis?

This happened because the Communist Party of China, which runs a totalitarian regime, refused to warn the world in time. They suppressed the news, destroyed samples, allowed millions of people to leave Wuhan and go all around the world.

Communists have always been against freedom. At least for the moment, they appear to have succeeded spectacularly. For now, we are all in jail.

But there is a second battle brewing, one which the Communist Party is also trying to win. They are trying to show the world that only their method works. That only a totalitarian Communist government can implement the kind of harsh curbs that are needed to stop a pandemic.

Already, the effect has been felt across the free world. From the United States to India, people are beginning to look at their democracies and wonder if it is a kind of weakness. The governments of Spain, France or Italy cannot force people to lock down in the way the Chinese state can. Left to their own judgement, people will make foolish mistakes. In a pandemic, the mistakes of a reckless few can doom us all. Perhaps freedom and democracy is not such a big deal after all?

When people begin to question the value of liberty itself, you know the Communists are winning. We cannot afford that.

This is why a concept such as “Janata curfew” is so important. The government isn’t forcing us. It is appealing to our conscience, our intelligence and our sense of duty. Saying that a free society can be trusted to do the right thing.

In India, left liberal sympathizers of the Communist Party have been mocking us, especially the appeal to come out of our homes at 5 pm and applaud those at the forefront of fighting the virus. They say that clapping won’t stop the virus.

We know it won’t. But we are demonstrating something even more important. We are showing them that free people can be trusted to do the right thing. A democratic country can pull together and fight a pandemic. We can save our lives and our way of life.

We have already lost our physical liberty to this virus. Now the Communists are making us question the liberty of our thoughts and our minds. If we start losing that, we would have nothing left.

We have to stay separate right now, but in our minds we are all in this together. Humanity will survive and so will freedom.

MD of Times of India group fuels panic amidst the Wuhan Coronavirus pandemic, falsely claims food supply will be affected amidst lockdown

OpIndia Staff
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MD of Times of India group fuels panic amidst the Wuhan Coronavirus pandemic, falsely claims food supply will be affected amidst lockdown

Amidst the Wuhan Coronavirus pandemic, the mainstream media appears hellbent on fueling panic among the people of the country. The SARS-CoV-2 has already given people plenty to worry about but people associated with the media appear to be working to fuel paranoia among the population. Vineet Jain, MD of Times of India group and a ‘non-conformist’, appears to be unwilling to conform to the conventional norms of common sense. He claims that there is a threat to the food supply and of vigilantism during the curfew.

Vineet Jain said on Twitter, “Big concerns of curfew-1) the food chain& it’s transport may get broken. Price of food will sky rocket & how to ensure that food supply does not run short bcoz people will stock up & the ones who don’t stock up should have access to it 2) unnecessary violence by police/vigilantes”. The MD of TOI group appears to be referring to the lockdown in the country to combat the Wuhan Coronavirus crisis. But his concerns are misguided and do not have a grain of truth in them.

The government has declared that essential services will continue to operate during the lockdown. This includes services such as healthcare, Police, electricity, fire etc. Moreover, only interstate passenger transport services and metro services have been suspended. Goods trains will continue to operate across the country. Therefore, the food supply will not be affected. Moreover, people have been directed to not engage in hoarding and they are expected to heed the Prime Minister’s call.

So far, there has been no addition to suggest any form of vigilantism has taken place, let alone an upsurge in such vigiilantism. In addition to that, the Police will continue to work and hence, they will maintain law and order even if there is an upsurge of vigilantism. Thus, quite clearly, Vineet Jain is engaging in fueling panic among the citizens of the country as the food supply will most definitely not be impacted. Normal life will be as the country is dealing with an unprecedented crisis. However, if people necessary caution and follow proper guidelines, then the country will not suffer undue crisis amidst the lockdown.

69-year-old Surat patient succumbs to Wuhan Coronavirus, had underlying health conditions

OpIndia Staff
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69-year-old Surat patient succumbs to Wuhan Coronavirus, had underlying health conditions

Surat has recorded its first death from the Wuhan Coranavirus pandemic. This is the first such case in Gujarat where 18 cases have been detected thus far. This takes the total number of deaths in India to 7.

The patient was a 69-year male old and had underlying health issues. He had tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. Another female patient has died in Vadodara who also had underlying health issues. The details of her test results are awaited.

The total number of cases in India has increased to 344. Meanwhile, a lockdown has been announced in 75 districts across the country. Railway, metro services and inter-state passenger transport have been suspended until the 31st of March. Freight trains will continue to operate amidst the lockdown.

“Quran mentions Coronavirus, Allah has sent it to the world to see who survives”, Burkha clad women make bizarre claims

OpIndia Staff
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“Quran mentions Coronavirus, Allah has sent it to the world to see who survives”, Burkha clad women make bizarre claims

In a contentious video that has now gone viral on social media, Muslim women can be seen claiming that the deadly coronavirus is the grace of Allah and the Quran to mankind.

A woman wearing a pink scarf made a startling claim, “Quran has the mention of a disease named Corona. We have always been strong and ready. Do you think you can scare us with corona? Death can come at any given time. Don’t think of scaring us with this disease.”

Another enlightened woman clad in Burqa remarked, “Allah is great! Allah has sent the coronavirus to the world to punish those who are torturing us. The decision of who will survive now rest in His hand. We are here in mass gatherings but we will not be affected. Those who fear coronavirus will only get infected.”

She added, “We must salute those women who have come here to protest to keep their household work aside.”

A Muslim woman dawning a Niqaab claimed, “We are not afraid of coronavirus because Allah has ensured that we (Muslims) are safe. Corona is no big deal.”

Another woman wearing a tricolour headscarf was heard saying, “Quran means Corona. We need knew that this would come. There are even more infectious diseases in the world. What does Modiji know about them?”

In another video, several Muslim women protesting against the CAA said that as they keep their faces covered all the time, they will not get the infection. They also accused that govt is trying to scare them using the coronavirus outbreak to make them end their anti-CAA protests. One woman said that they will avenge the death of youths died during the Delhi riots.

When the reporter talking to them asked them to maintain social distancing, they outrightly rejected that and said that this is unnecessary. They said that they were asked to maintain social distancing in an effort to end their protest, pointing out that even the policemen were sitting together.

“We read Namaj five times a day, Allah will give us the force to fight Corona”, a woman said. Another woman claimed that China has opened Mosques to get protection from coronavirus, and slammed those who have decided to shut mosques in India.

This is not the first time that Muslims have cited Islam in the context of coronavirus. Earlier, a Shaheen Bagh protester by the name of Rizvana said, “Washing hands regularly is part of our lifestyle. We offer namaz five times a day and we wash our hands every time”, suggesting how she was safe from COVID-19 despite being a part of a mass gathering.

In a viral video, one of the protesters could be heard dismissing the looming threat of coronavirus by claiming that Corona emerged from the Quran. Several protestors do not think that the pandemic is a threat because the Anti-CAA protests are supposedly a ‘call from Allah‘.

At a time when social distancing is crucial to preventing the spread of the pandemic, Muslims have taken to TikTok to encourage people to indulge in risky social behaviour. The men can be heard making bizarre claims, “Islam teaches us that shaking hands spread love not coronavirus”, “sharing food eaten by another Muslim leads to Shifa (healing) and not corona” and “we are Muslims and therefore we are not afraid to die.”

As the world grapples with the Wuhan Coronavirus, Taiwan has managed to have things under control despite close proximity to China: Here is how

OpIndia Staff
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As the world grapples with the Wuhan Coronavirus, Taiwan has managed to have things under control despite close proximity to China: Here is how

Taiwan has emerged as a beacon of light in the midst of the Wuhan Coronavirus pandemic. Despite being located just 130 kilometers (80 miles) away from Mainland China, Taiwan, officially the Republic of China, has managed to prevent the virus from spreading across vast sections of its society. As of the time of writing this report, the country had only 153 cases of the SARS-CoV-2 and had claimed only two lives in the state. This is vastly few compared to other countries in the region even though its population is estimated only to be 2.38 crores.

In order to manage such a feat, Taiwan has had to take drastic measures. As per a report on The Guardian, the government of Taiwan is tracking people through their phones in order to ensure that people duly observe the quarantine procedures. It was quick to enforce border controls and ban the export of surgical masks. The country had suffered significantly in the earlier SARS epidemic. Therefore, this time around, it was not taking any chances.

Taiwan was also quick to realize that the data shared by China wasn’t accurate and not reliable. “What we learned from Sars was that we need to be very sceptical with data from China,” Chan Chang-chuan, dean of National Taiwan University’s College of Public Health, told The Guardian. He added, “We learned very harsh lessons then and that experience is something other countries don’t have.”

Despite its stellar record, Taiwan is not a part of the World Health Organization (WHO) due to the objections raised by China. The Chinese government claims Taiwan is part of its territory even though Taiwan has its own democratically elected sovereign government. Since 2017, Taiwan has not been able to attend the annual World Health Assembly and in the midst of the Wuhan Coronavirus crisis, it has been excluded from WHU emergency meetings.

The numbers for Taiwan are even more impressive considering the fact that the 18 new cases discovered on Saturday were all imported from other countries such as the USA and Britain which have thus far failed to grab hold of the virus. The imports took the numbers to 153. Thus, the threat it faces now is almost entirely from people bringing the virus to the island from abroad. However, in the midst of the global pandemic, Taiwan has shown the world that the Wuhan Coronavirus can be overcome.

Taiwan had obvious vulnerabilities. Some 2.71 million Taiwanese visited China in 2019 and even as late as January 2020, there were a dozen round trip flights between the two every week. However, due to the strained relationship between the two, Taiwan has always been wary of China and exceptionally careful about contagious diseases since the first SARS epidemic. “Do not forget that Taiwan has been under China’s threat constantly,” wrote Wang Cheng-hua, a professor of art history at Princeton, “which has raised social consciousness about collective action. When the collective will supports government, then all of the strict measures implemented by the government make sense.”

While Taiwan has fared exceptionally well, enforcing strict measures and ensuring its smooth implementation to curb the spread of the virus, numerous other countries have faulted and floundered and are now staring at a nightmare. Italy, in particular, has witnessed harrowing death rates and suffered close to 800 deaths the previous day, the highest official toll for any country yet. Iran, too, gue to its history of religious radicalism has failed to contain the virus and is suffering heavy casualties.

Pakistan appears horribly unprepared as well and in India, while the government has been fairly proactive in tackling the matter, individuals have exhibited a remarkably lax attitude in taking matters seriously and have endangered the safety of others on numerous occasions. Thus, the immense success of the Taiwanese government is a combination of both, the proactive measures implemented by the government and the awareness of its population to adhere to the norms laid down.

Coronavirus Pandemic: Union Govt announces lockdown in 75 Covid-19 affected districts; trains, metros, interstate passenger transport suspended

OpIndia Staff
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Coronavirus Pandemic: Union Govt announces lockdown in 75 Covid-19 affected districts; trains, metros, interstate passenger transport suspended

In the midst of the Wuhan Coronavirus outbreak, a total of 75 districts across the country have been put under lockdown by the government. The decision was announced after a high-level meeting between the Chief Secretaries of all states by the Cabinet Secretary and the Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister. The 75 districts put under lockdown have reported coronavirus positive cases.

A press release issued by Govt of India said that the State Governments were advised to issue appropriate orders to allow only essential services to operate in the 75 districts which have reported confirmed cases or casualties relating to COVID-19. The State Governments may expand the list depending on their assessment of the situation. It was noted that several State Governments have already issued orders in this regard, the notification said.

The notification also says that in view of the need to contain the spread of COVID 19, it was agreed that there is urgent need to extend the restrictions on the movement of non-essential passenger transport including inter-state transport buses till 31st March 2020. Therefore, all train services with the exception of goods trains have been suspended until the 31st of March. All metro services have also been suspended till 31st March. In addition to that, inter-state passenger transport has also been suspended until the 31st of March. Only essential services will operate in the districts under lockdown.

Source: Republic

A bare minimum of suburban rail services and metro rail in Kolkata will continue till midnight tonight. The Union Railways Ministry has directed all Zonal Railways to ensure that the guidelines issued are strictly followed. It has also instructed that passengers are informed of the decision through SMSes and have sought confirmation of the implementation of the orders.

Source: Rohan Dua/TOI

The State Governments have been given permission to expand the list after assessing the situation on the ground. Earlier, the governments of Punjab and Rajasthan had enforced statewide lockdown in the midst of the crisis. On Saturday, the Odisha Government had declared a lockdown across 5 districts and 7 towns.

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