Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 22

As the government enforces a lockdown in the districts that have reported Covid-infected cases in their respective jurisdictions, the Armed Forces and Central Armed Police Forces have been placed on standby for assisting the civil administration in cases of any exigency.

According to sources, while there has been no formal requisition of defence forces or paramilitray forces in this regard so far, these forces could be deployed if the need so arises.

“We have placed earmarked formations on the alert which would be moved to assist the civil authorities if called for,” an officer said. “This could be for reinforcing the local police for maintaining law and order, positioning additional medical teams and quarantine facilities, crowd control, providing emergency evacuation of patients or provisioning essential commodities in remote areas,” he added.

An officer, however, clarified that placing defence and home ministry forces on standby did not mean that the situation would get out of hand. “Such actions are standard procedures so that no time is lost if any emergency situation is to be dealt with,” he said. “We regularly liaise with local civilian authorities as well as carry out mock drills in this regard,” he added.

Sources point out that since localities where confirmed coronavirus cases are detected have to be sealed and people prevented from moving around, the manpower requirement for enforcing such directives is huge. In addition to dealing with the fallout of coronavirus, regular law enforcement and security duties also have to be undertaken.

Security in some areas has also been stepped up as essential services are not to be disrupted. The IAF is also on standby to airlift personnel or essential supplies, sources said. Since railway and public transport services have also been suspended, the forces could assist the civil population in emergency movement.

The Armed Forces and paramilitary organisations are already running quarantine camps for travellers who are returning from abroad. They have also issued extensive guideline to in their rank and file for measure to mitigate the spread of coronavirus.

The militaries of many countries affected by Covid are actively engaged in combating the pandemic in their respective countries.

New Delhi, March 22

With the Centre deciding to put 82 districts on lockdown, almost all modes of public transport have been put on hold till March 31.

The Indian Railways has cancelled all passenger services. Also, Metro services in the country have been asked to shut down. The Railways had already curtailed its services on Friday, cancelling a number of trains. Only goods trains will run up to March 31 midnight to ensure uninterrupted supplies, an official order said.

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 22

India on Sunday responded overwhelmingly to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call for people’s curfew to battle the growing Covid-19 pandemic, encouraging the government to order an unprecedented lockdown in an attempt to break the chain of viral transmission.

While Janata Curfew was underway, the Centre asked states to shut down all non-essential services in districts with a Covid confirmed case or death. By Sunday evening, the number of such districts was 82.

Punjab, Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir, West Bengal, Nagaland, Uttarakhand, Chandigarh and Bihar ordered lockdowns until March 31, saying only essential services (medical, groceries, dairy items, fruits, vegetables, petrol pumps) would be available.

The move towards near pan-India lockdown (23 states now have confirmed Covid cases) came on a day when India saw three more deaths (one each in Mumbai, Patna and Surat) due to the disease, taking the toll to seven and the cases surged to 396 in the highest 24-hour rise so far.

The decision to extend the voluntary Janata Curfew into a shutdown was taken to ensure social distancing between people which, according to experts, is the only way to flatten the growing curve of virus transmission. So far, the cases in India only involve people with travel history abroad or their direct contacts.

The executive actions the Centre and states took today to quarantine most of the nation are primarily aimed at halting the virus from transmitting into the community or to reduce its impact.

The lockdown decisions were taken today at a high-level meeting Cabinet Secretary Rajeev Gauba and PK Mishra, Principal Secretary to the PM, held with state Chief Secretaries and Health Secretaries. The meeting agreed to suspend all non-essential passenger transport till March 31, including inter-state buses.

“The state governments were asked to issue appropriate orders; only essential services to operate in all districts which have reported confirmed cases or casualties due to Covid-19,” a government statement said, adding that the states could expand the lockdown depending on their assessment of the situation on the ground.

Starting midnight Sunday to March 31 midnight, all trains will remain suspended except the goods trains. All suburban rail and metro services, including Delhi Metro, will not operate. The Centre said states could issue orders to allow emergency metro services in the districts with confirmed Covid cases.

The day also saw citizens coming out in large numbers across the country to thank corona warriors by clapping, ringing cymbals, clanging utensils to honour the call given by PM Modi to express gratitude to India’s first line of defence against a dreaded virus.

The PM’s mother Heeraben also joined the national thanksgiving by clanging a utensil today. The PM later tweeted, “Mother, your participation in this effort will inspire lakhs of warriors like doctors, nurses, sanitation workers, paramedics, police personnel and mediapersons in this fight against the pandemic. It will give them the strength to carry on.”

Modi thanked everyone for the successful self-isolation today: “Janata Curfew may end at 9 pm today but that does not mean we begin celebrations. This is the start of a prolonged battle. Today Indians have shown they are capable and with their resolve they can defeat the gravest of challenges.”

The PM also asked people not to venture out of their homes in the districts where curfew had been clamped and even otherwise stay home until absolutely necessary to venture out.

The West Bengal government has requested the railway ministry to stop all trains from entering the state till March 31 to shield the state from any potential carriers of Covid-19 from outside.

The state also put a ban on interstate bus movement to contain the outbreak of the disease on Saturday.

“Considering the emergent situation developing due to spread of Novel Coronavirus, you are requested to ensure that no trains from outside the state of West Bengal enter West Bengal from midnight of March 22, onwards till March 31,” said a letter written by the chief secretary Rajiva Sinha.

The letter tagged as ‘most urgent and immediate’ was sent to the chairman of the railway board on Saturday. The state has already imposed stringent restrictions on public gatherings and crowding in the state

The Indian Railways has already stopped a few thousand trains on March 22 in an attempt to ensure that people follow the ‘Janta Curfew’ announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to contain the spread of coronavirus.

The railways announced on Saturday that 12 passengers who travelled on its network in the last 7-8 days have tested positive for the disease triggering concern about possible community transmission.

The national transporter has also announced the cancellation of several trains and cut down on the frequency of a few others in the wake of the disease.

Till Saturday three persons have tested positive of coronavirus in Bengal and around 21,000 people have been kept under surveillance in homes and hospitals

: A young male tested positive for Covid-19 on Sunday morning taking the count of confirmed cases in the city to six, officials said.

The number of positive cases in the Chandigarh, Mohali and Panchkula have spiked to 11 in 5 days.

According to the Union Territory Administration, the man is the secondary contact of the 23-year-old-female who returned from England on March 15 and tested positive for coronavirus on March 18. The area of residence of the latest person to test positive has not been confirmed by the authorities.

The fresh case was admitted Chandigarh’s Government Medical College and Hospital on Saturday and his samples were tested at the city’s Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research.

Track coronavirus live updates here,

Earlier, the brother, mother and cook of the first positive case tested positive for coronavirus followed by a 38-year-old woman who worked at a beauty salon who came in contact with Chandigarh’s first coronavirus case.

All these four positive cases were from Mohal. But no fresh case has been reported from Mohali.

Also read: Covid-19: How it will change the world

“Reports of three persons who were suspected to be infected are negative. Reports of three other persons are awaited which can only be confirmed by evening,” Mohali Civil Surgeon Manjit Singh said.

Several roads are deserted, Metro stations closed in Delhi and public places shut down as the country is observing Janta Curfew which began at 7 am on Sunday. The curfew is being observed to break the chain of transmission of coronavirus disease Covid-19 that has killed four people so far and infected more than 300 in the country.

The voluntary curfew will last till 9 pm.

In Chennai, authorities have put up boards outside the Marina Beach announcing its closure. There is also adequate police presence in the area. “There is a restriction on a large gathering of people. So, we are organising the praying session via YouTube so they don’t need to come to the church for the holy mass,” said George Anthony Swamy, Archbishop of Madras-Mylapore.

From Ludhiana in Punjab to Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala, roads are empty and shops closed. Metro stations in Delhi also wear a deserted look. The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) had announced that its services will be closed on Sunday, when the country observes Janta Curfew.

India is observing a 14-hour self quarantine today to prevent the spread of the deadly coronavirus disease Covid-19. Named Janta Curfew by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, this exercise is voluntary and helps in prevention of community transmission of the Sars-CoV-2 virus.

Community transmission occurs when a person with no travel history to a Covid-19-affected country or known contact with a confirmed case tests positive for the disease. It indicates undiagnosed and often asymptomatic people are unknowingly causing infection, which makes it difficult to break the chain of transmission.

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has been conducting community surveillance by lifting random samples from intensive care unit (ICU) patients suffering from severe acute respiratory infections (SARI), including severe pneumonia. These samples are taken from people with no travel history or contact with a positive patient.

The Janta Curfew seeks to break this chain as the people will remain indoors during this period. This means they will not step out of the house, not even for a morning walk or an evening stroll or for buying rations or other stuff. It is to ensure that people do not come in contact with any person outside who could be a carrier of the virus.

“As #JantaCurfew, people’s movement begins, I pledge to strictly follow PM @narendramodi ji’s call. I also urge my fellow countrymen to participate. Let’s break the chain and protect our nation against this pandemic with social distancing and self isolation,” Union Home Minister Amit Shah tweeted on Sunday morning.

He also said that at 5 pm on March 22, “we should thank people like doctors, medical personnel, cleaning staff, for their service during the coronavirus outbreak”.

Karam Prakash

Tribune News Service

Patiala, March 21

Doctors at Government Rajindra Hospital are treating coronavirus patients sans masks. Sufficient masks are not available with the hospital authorities. Moreover, security personnel are also short of masks. They can be seen using handkerchiefs at the hospital emergency to protect themselves from the disease.

Residents and senior medicos rued that the hospital authorities were not providing enough masks to foot soldiers at the time of corona pandemic.

A senior paediatrician at the hospital, said, “Once again, the hospital authorities have failed to take care of their doctors. Essential items like masks should be in abundance at any hospital. It is unfortunate that such basic stuff is not available at an institute like Rajindra Hospital.”

One of the junior residents, who are usually are at the forefront of the hospital, said, “We are facing acute shortage of safety gear at the hospital.”

One of the residents, on condition of anonymity, said, “Apart from emergency, rest of the wards also don’t have masks. When we asked officials they said there is a shortage of masks and sanitisers.”

Rajindra Hospital has an isolation ward for Covid-19 patients. Also, there are some quarantines facilities at the hospital. In such a situation, there is a huge risk of infection to doctors.

Meanwhile, sources at the Health Department said, “We have already placed orders for masks and hand sanitisers following their shortage.”

Nursing students protest outside MS office

Students of the Government Nursing College, Patiala, ‘gheraoed’ the office of the Medical Superintendent (MS) of Government Rajindra Hospital today. Students were protesting shortage of masks, gloves and demanding holidays. Students said the administration of the hospital and the college was neither providing them gloves and masks to perform duties at the emergency nor allowing them holidays. Some college girls gathered outside the MS office and sought a meeting with him.

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, March 21

As there is a plan to open the level crossing near Vikas Nagar along the Sidhwan Canal for vehicular traffic, Cabinet Minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu today inspected the site. He was also accompanied by Williamjit Singh, Deputy Chief Engineer (Construction Division), Northern Railway, and other senior officials. The level crossing was closed after construction of the railway overbridge that is a part of Southern Bypass.

Ashu and MP Ravneet Singh Bittu had met Union Railways Minister Piyush Goyal in Delhi on March 18 and urged him to ensure that the Vikas Nagar level crossing was opened for vehicular traffic on a temporary basis because the main level crossing on Pakhowal Road had to be closed for some time when the construction of rail overbridge would start.

Ashu said the temporary opening of the level crossing (no. S3-A at Km 4/6-7) near Vikas Nagar area along the Sidhwan Canal was discussed with the Union Minister a few days ago. He stated that the construction work of rail overbridge (ROB) and rail underbridge on Pakhowal Road had already started and the construction of the ROB by the Railways would involve the closure of the main level crossing to facilitate work. “Therefore, it will be essential to divert traffic on other arterial roads during this period. So, a level crossing, no. S3-A at Km 4/6 -7 existing nearby, which was closed subsequent to the construction of the rail overbridge across it, if opened temporarily during the construction period, will immensely help in the management of the traffic,” he said.

Ashu said it was after his meeting with the Union Minister that Williamjit Singh was sent to Ludhiana to work out a plan. He also asked Williamjit Singh to ensure that the tendering process for construction work on the railways’ portion of the Pakhowal Road ROB & RUB project should be completed soon. He stated that the Deputy Chief Engineer assured that all issues would be redressed on a priority basis.

Later, Ashu also visited the Leisure Valley being developed at Bhai Randhir Singh Nagar and supervised the ongoing work. Perturbed over the slow pace of work, he asked the contractor to pull up his socks and finish work within the stipulated time.