As the total number of coronavirus cases in India rose to 169, former finance minister P. Chidambaram urged the Centre to announce an immediate lockdown on the country’s cities and towns. Taking to Twitter on Thursday, Chidambaram said in the light of the WHO director general’s statements urging for isolating and testing every suspected case, there should be no hesitation in moving towards such a step.
“After WHO Director General’s statement yesterday, there should be no hesitation in ordering an immediate lockdown of all our towns and cities for 2-4 weeks,” he tweeted. In another tweet, he wondered what was holding the Centre from taking such a step, despite watching the horror unfold in countries like Italy, Iran and Spain.
“Since ICMR’s random sample testing has revealed that there is no community transmission (Stage 3) so far, this is the moment to announce a temporary lockdown and contain the disease at Stage 2,” he further added. While stage 2 refers to the transmission of the disease from infected persons or those who have travelled to infected countries, stage 3 refers to community transmission. In Stage 3, the numbers could shoot up exponentially.
After WHO Director General’s statement yesterday, there should be no hesitation in ordering an immediate lockdown of all our towns and cities for 2-4 weeks.
Some states that are ahead of the central government should go ahead and lockdown their towns and cities.
India has taken multiple steps to contain the outbreak, like suspending tourist visas and banning
After WHO Director General’s statement yesterday, there should be no hesitation in ordering an immediate lockdown of all our towns and cities for 2-4 weeks.
— P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) March 19, 2020
travel. Schools, colleges, malls and cinema theatres will remain closes in most states till March 31. State governments have also banned mass gatherings of people and major functions. The Central Board of Secondary Education on Wednesday postponed Class 10 and Class 12 examinations in view of the novel coronavirus pandemic. The board decision came soon after the HRD Ministry directed all educational institutions in the country to put off all the ongoing examinations.
The number of global coronavirus infections shot past 200,000 on Wednesday, as governments across Europe, North America and Asia rolled out tough measures to put the brakes on the ferocious spread of the deadly pandemic.