Curbs across India; Europe shut out Fears high, but testing still low

Gurugram woman tests positive; 4 fresh infections, one each in Odisha, Kerala, J&K, Ladakh Centre bans travel from EU, UK, Delhi government bars gatherings of over 50, closes gyms, nightclubs, spas

THE GOVERNMENT SAID CONTACT TRACING OF THE CONFIRMED CASES LED TO IDENTIFICATION OF MORE THAN 5,200 PEOPLE, WHO WERE BEING CLOSELY MONITORED

NEW DELHI: Haryana and Odisha reported their first coronavirus cases on Monday as the country patient count mounted to 115, prompting the Centre to widen critical restrictions by banning travel from the European Union, UK and Turkey.

Delhi intensified efforts to halt the spread of the new coronavirus disease by banning gatherings of more than 50 people and shutting down gyms, nightclubs and weekly markets,

These sweeping curbs, many of which experts believe came too late despite growing alarm over the contagion, were announced a day after the government collected 1,100 samples to test at random. Worries have deepened over the absence of aggressive random testing and creaky state health care infrastructure, with experts warning that the number of cases in the country could balloon if pre-emptive steps are not enforced on a war footing.

Gurugram IT staffer, 26, who visited Indonesia and Malaysia, tested positive for the virus, said Haryana health officials. The woman has been kept in an isolation ward in a hospital in Gurugram. Her 70 colleagues have also been quarantined.

Four fresh Covid-19 cases – one each from Odisha, Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh and Kerala – were confirmed on Monday, taking the total number of cases to 115. These include 13 people who have recovered and two who lost their lives. About a dozen others showed signs of the disease in initial tests conducted by state authorities, potentially taking the tally up to at least 126. Seven people in Maharashtra were confirmed positive in initial tests.

The Union health ministry recommended that malls remain closed till the end of the month and people maintain one-metre distance between themselves to guard against Covid-19, which has killed at least 6,500 people worldwide. The spread of Covid-19 in India has not been rapid so far, but data shows that many

I am quite concerned by the lack of adequate testing. India has the resources. If you don’t test, how would people know they have the disease? If people don’t know, then how will secondary infection be prevented?

RAMANAN LAXMINARAYAN, director of The Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics & Policy

European countries showed a sharp spike in cases once random community testing was scaled up. With the first increase in India reported in early March, the country is in its most vulnerable phase, with experts urging the government to not wait for a worsening of the situation before ordering a lockdown.

On Monday, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal announced that any gathering – religious, family, social, political or cultural – of more than 50 people will not be allowed in the national capital till March 31 to fight against the infection. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government also directed the closure of all gyms, nightclubs, theatres, weekly markets and spas.

“We request people concerned to postpone marriages, if possible,” Kejriwal said at a news briefing after meeting a crack team set up to deal with the public health crisis. He also said that all shopping malls should be disinfected daily and sanitisers should be provided on their premises. The special task force headed by Kejriwal also ordered officials to install hand-wash dispensers across Delhi.

The coronavirus infection, which is believed to have originated at a seafood market in China’s Wuhan in December last year, has so far spread to about 150 countries, and infected about 175,000 people. While Wuhan took the biggest hit from the outbreak, the World Health Organization (WHO) says that Europe has become the new epicentre of the public health crisis.

Shortly after Delhi’s announcement, the Union government prohibited the entry of

NEWDELHI:INDIA needs to urgently and dramatically widen the pool of patients getting tested for the new coronavirus disease (Covid-19), allow voluntary testing, and rope in the private sector, experts said on Monday, calling for an immediate overhaul of diagnosis protocols to fight the highly contagious disease.

As of Monday, authorities had tested barely 9,000 people despite having at least 300,000 kits, putting India in the bottom rung of countries, and possibly robbing doctors of accurate information about the spread of the infection.

India’s current strategy is to test only symptomatic people with a history of travel to global hot spots or those with close contact with a positive case, with those showing symptoms getting priority. But this has led to widespread panic with many worried about symptoms.

Designated government hospitals continue to turn away many people without symptoms who travelled from affected countries and wanted to get tested even though symptoms may take up to 14 days to appear.

Experts worry that the delay might prove dangerous in the fight to avert the deadly community transmission phase of the disease where it spreads between people who have neither travelled to global hot spots nor been in contact with positive cases. “I am quite concerned by the lack of adequate testing. India has the resources. If you don’t test, how would people know they have the disease? If people don’t know, then how will secondary infection be prevented?” asked Ramanan Laxminarayan, director of The Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics & Policy.