All borders to be sealed as 8 more die
DMs, SPs directed to stop migrant workers from leaving; all states ordered to ensure supply of food to needy
As India entered Day 5 of a 21-day lockdown, eight more deaths were reported from six states in the past 24 hours, taking the death toll due to the deadly virus to 27 on Sunday. Of the 1,024 active Covid19 cases, 95 patients have been cured and discharged.
The spread of the highly contagious virus has almost doubled — from 75 districts to 160 districts — in the last six days, and 106 new cases were reported in the last 24 hours.
In a bid to stop community transmission of the virus, the Centre has ordered the sealing of state and district borders across India to prevent the movement of migrant workers desperate to return to their villages after being left jobless, with many without food or shelter due to the lockdown. The Centre has warned that all those violating the restrictions will be sent to 14-day quarantine. The states were also directed to allow only the movement of essential commodities and stop people’s movement on highways or across cities.
The PMO has constituted 11 high-level committees to suggest measures to ramp up healthcare, put the economy back on track, and reduce the pain and misery of people as quickly as possible. So far, Maharashtra has reported six deaths, Gujarat five, Karnataka three, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi and J&K two each; and Kerala, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Punjab, West Bengal and Himachal Pradesh have reported one each.
With 203 cases, Maharashtra is the state worst-hit by Covid-19, followed by Kerala with 182 positive cases. In Delhi, the number of cases shot up to 72. In Telangana, the number of cases rose to 66, including 10 foreigners, while Karnataka has
reported 76 cases. In Tamil Nadu 49 people, including six foreigners, have tested positive.
The number of cases in Rajasthan rose to 55, including two foreigners. Uttar Pradesh reported 65 cases, including a foreigner, while in Gujarat, it has gone up to 58, including one foreign national.
In Delhi, the number of Covid-19 cases has gone up to 72, with 23 new cases reported Sunday. Punjab reported 38 cases, while 33 cases have so far been detected in Haryana, including 14 foreigners. Madhya Pradesh recorded 30 cases, Jammu and Kashmir 31, West Bengal 18, Andhra Pradesh 19 and Ladakh 13.
Bihar has 11 cases, Chandigarh eight and Chhattisgarh reported seven cases so far. Uttarakhand has seven cases, including a foreigner. Himachal Pradesh and Odisha have reported three cases each. Nine cases have been reported from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Goa has reported five coronavirus cases. Puducherry, Mizoram and Manipur have reported one case each.
On Sunday, the Centre issued fresh directions to all states and Union territories to strictly enforce the three-week lockdown. During a video conference with chief secretaries and DGPs, Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba and Union home secretary Ajay Bhalla directed that the district magistrates and SPs should be made personally responsible for the implementation of the lockdown directions.
The two top Central officials told the chiefs of police and civil administrations of all states to make adequate arrangements for food and shelter for poor and needy people, including migrant labourers, at their place of work. The Central government has already issued orders for the use of State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) funds for this purpose.
The states have been also told to ensure the timely payment of wages to labourers at their place of work during the period of lockdown without any cut.
They have been directed to ensure that even house rent is not demanded from labourers for this period. They have also sought action against anyone who asks labourers or students to vacate their homes.
Meanwhile, Union Minister Jitendra Singh said that cargo flights will be used exclusively for transporting medical equipment and emergency goods, besides other essential items to the northeastern states, in the wake of the countrywide lockdown due to the coronavirus outbreak.