Delhi under lockdown till March 31 as coronavirus cases in the state rise to 27

Delhi has been put under lockdown till March 31 in the wake of the rapid increase in number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in the country, especially the state.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, in a press briefing on Sunday in New Delhi, said a lockdown later than it's required will not be of any consequence, and hence, the state government has decided to put Delhi under a shut down.

“We have 27 cases in Delhi right now — six of transmission, and 21 those who came from outside India. There won’t be much impact if we shut down much later as we are seeing in Italy. So we have decided for a lockdown till March 31,” Kejriwal said.

Under the lockdown, the state borders will remain sealed, other than for transportation of essential items.

Essential services — judiciary and magistrate offices, police actvities, fire, prison, ration shops, electricity offices, water facility offices, municipal services, Delhi Vidhan Sabha activities, print and electronic media, cash machines, sale and purchase of essential goods — are exempted from the lockdown.

Kejriwal also informed that any person walking on the street, if questioned, will be believed on the purpose of travel. He also asserted that private establishments will give their employees the exact monthly salary as detailed in their contract despite the lockdown.

India on Sunday reported its seventh death due to coronavirus. This is the first fatality reported from the state of Gujarat.

The 67-year-old man was in the hospital for last four days.

Earlier in the day, a38-year-old man with travel history to Qatar succumbed to COVID-19at the AIIMS in Patna. Saif Ali (38), a resident of Munger district in Bihar, was admitted to the hospital with kidney ailment on Friday, However, doctors noticed that he was also suffering from respiratory problems, following which they sent his swab samples to the Rajendra Memorial Research Institute (RMRI), Patna.

The number of cases of novel coronavirus cases in India rose to 341 on Sunday after fresh cases were reported in various parts of the country, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) said.

It is amid this spurt that the country is observing an unprecedented shutdown on Sunday following Prime Minister Narendra Modi's appeal for a 'Janata curfew’. Under this, people have been urged to voluntarily stay indoors to check the spread of coronavirus while public transport is suspended or curtailed and all markets and shops except those dealing in essential items are closed on the day.

The Indian government has been keeping a close watch on the preparedness of the health facilities in the wake of the rising number of confirmed cases of COVID-19.

TheICMR on Saturday revised its strategy to fight the spread of the novel coronavirus. It said all hospitalised patients with severe acute respiratory illness, shortness of breath and having fever and cough will now be tested forCOVID-19infection. The newICMRguidelines also said asymptomatic direct and high-risk contacts of a confirmed case should be tested once between day 5 and day 14 of coming in his/her contact.