Coronavirus

tested at random.

As of Friday morning, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) had conducted 14,376 tests – one of the lowest diagnostic rates in the world. India currently has the capacity to test 10,000 samples per day.

South Korea, which has been able to slow the advance of the disease despite reporting about 8,500 cases, has tested about 274,000 people since February. Though the US has tested 82,000 people, Covid-19 cases have raced to alarming levels in the country, leading to widespread criticism of its authorities for intractable delays in making tests available.

On Friday, Delhi reported five fresh cases of the disease, which originated in China’s Wuhan last December and has killed at least 10,000 people. The national capital has so far reported 17 confirmed cases, which include one foreigner. With 52 cases, Maharashtra remains the worst affected state, triggering calls for a complete lockdown to halt the advance of the disease.

While Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal ordered that all malls, except grocery stores and pharmacies, be shut down immediately, Maharashtra put in place similar measures by announcing that all non-essential businesses in Mumbai and across the state were shutting down from midnight through the end of March.

Public health experts warned that despite the intensifying efforts across states, the disease could spiral out of control if Indians showed callous disregard to guidelines and precautions in the fight against Covid-19.

Among the fresh cases reported on Friday was singer Kanika Kapoor, whose announcement of having contracted the disease sent alarm bells ringing in several quarters -- from Parliament house to Rashtrapati Bhavan. Former Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje, her MP son Dushyant Singh, and parliamentarians Derek O’brien and Anupriya Patel began self-quarantines after coming into direct or indirect contact with Kapoor.

Uttar Pradesh health minister Jai Pratap Singh underwent a test for Covid-19 as it emerged that he was at a party thrown by the celebrity singer after her return from London recently. Three BJP MLAS who met him on Thursday also went into self-isolation.

Reacting to a question on Kapoor’s movements across Lucknow and Kanpur, health ministry joint secretary Lav Aggarwal said contact tracing was the immediate protocol that was initiated and all action for containment of the disease began at the same time.

He urged people to follow Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call to observe the “Janta Curfew” and stay at home on March 22 from 7am to 9pm, while emphasising that social distancing was primary to curb the spread of COVID-19 infection. “One day’s cooperation will help break the chain of transmission,” he added.

“The Centre has asked the states to take strict action as per the appropriate law against people who are not following the social distancing directive. The state governments have the inherent power under the Epidemic Diseases Act and Disaster Management Act to take action against anyone who does not follow the government directive and risks lives of people,” he added.

In his first address to the nation on the crisis, the Prime Minister on Thursday appealed to citizens to display commitment and called for a “people’s curfew” on Sunday, March 22, where citizens would stay home as both a symbolic message of India’s determination and a test-case to prepare for future challenges.

In line with the announcement, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation said on its Twitter handle: “DMRC has decided to keep its services closed (on Sunday). The move is aimed at encouraging the public to stay indoors and maintain social distancing, which is essential in the fight against

COVID-19.”

No passenger train, mail express train or intercity train will operate till 10pm on Sunday following the PM’S call. Operations of suburban rail services in all cities will also reduce to a “bare minimum”.

India also expanded universal screening at airports for all passengers coming from Australia, the US and UK. “In view of local transmission of the disease, and increase in number of cases and deaths being reported in Australia, UK and USA, it has now been decided to expand the universal screening for all passengers coming from these places, and risk profiling them for either quarantine or isolation based on risk assessment,” a document prepared by the health ministry said.

The Covid-19 pandemic has killed more than 10,000 people, according to data from Johns Hopkins University, and the World Health Organization said the disease is now infecting people at a faster pace. It took three months for the first 100,000 cases, but only 12 days for the next 100,000.

Italy is set to reinforce and extend the near-total lockdown after fatalities surpassed those in China, which again reported no new cases in the outbreak’s initial hub. Britain will set out a package to help save millions of jobs and Germany is considering emergency spending measures.

California announced a statewide stay-in-place order, the most stringent US effort yet to curb the spread of the virus.

“Had a meeting with MSS (medical superintendents) of all Delhi govt hospitals. If corona spreads widely in future, our hospitals should be prepared to deal with such situation – all machines should be working, adequate ventilators, adequate medicines and consumables, manpower etc,” the Delhi CM added.

The meeting came on a day a hospital in London declared a “critical incident” due to shortage of intensive care beds caused by a rise in the number of patients with Covid-19. Northwick Park Hospital told staff that it did not have enough space for patients requiring critical care, several newspapers and broadcasters reported.

Deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia said the Delhi government also closed down all haats at INA, Pitampura and Janakpuri. The tourism department’s “Hop on Hop off” (Hoho) bus service was also suspended. Sisodia said that all non-essential staffers were directed to work from home and that all permanent and contractual employees will continue to be paid. Globally, the disease, which was first reported in China, has killed at least 10,000 people and infected about 250,000.

With the deaths continuing to grow massively in Italy, which has become the latest epicentre of the deadly outbreak, the Delhi government extended its advisories on restrictions to the private sector, too, to prevent a similar trend back home.

It urged private sector firms to allow their employees to work from home till March 31 in the wake of the outbreak. In the advisory, the government also asked people, particulary senior citizens, pregnant women and those affected with hypertension and diabetes, to remain at home.

“All private sector offices (including, multi-national companies, IT firms, industries and corporate offices) situated in NCT of Delhi are advised to allow their officers/employees to work from home till March 31, 2020,” the government said. Officials said all non-essential public dealing activities were stopped till March 31.

Central government employees above the age of 50 can go on leave without producing a medical certificate to avoid unnecessary burden on the health care system amid the ongoing crisis, a personnel ministry order said.

As part of its effort to relax leave norms for the employees, the ministry also asked central government departments to sanction leave to officials who wish to self-quarantine as a preventive measure.

The total number of Covid-19 cases in the national capital has risen to 17.

In Maharashtra, the case count stands at 52, the most for any state. On Friday, the authorities ordered all non-essential businesses in Mumbai and across the state to shut from midnight through the end of March to contain the spread of Covid-19.

Banks will continue to operate, government offices will function with a quarter of their staff, buses and trains will run and food and medicines will be available, Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray told citizens in a public address. Stock exchanges and certain financial intermediaries will be open.

“Only essential services like milk and grocery shops and banks will remain open, and offices that do not allow work from home will have to shut down completely,” Thackeray said. “Shutting down local trains, bus services will be our final resort.”

Back in the Capital, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation said its services will be closed on Sunday in view of the ‘Janta Curfew’ that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asked people to follow from 7am to 9pm on Sunday.

“The move is aimed at encouraging public to stay indoors and maintain social distancing, which is essential in the fight against COVID-19,” it said.

Calling for “resolve and restraint” to fight coronavirus, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday asked the entire country to observe “Janta curfew” on Sunday.

Experts said that while the state governments were taking strong measures, the focus could soon shift to the capacity of the health care infrastructure in dealing with a deepened crisis.

From Washington to London, Beijing to Rome, governments are now drafting automakers and aerospace manufacturers to ramp up production of ventilators and other medical equipment to bolster what most experts say is an inadequate arsenal of Covid-19 treatment tools.