NEW DELHI: Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray on Friday announced that cities of Mumbai, Mumbai Metropolitan Region, Pune, Pimpri Chinchwad and Nagpur will be shutdown in the wake of the deadly coronavirus. The chief minister’s order will come into force from midnight tonight and continue till March 31.
The shutdown will practically close everything barring essential services such as drinking water, banking, telephone, internet, railway, other modes of transportation, food, vegetables, groceries, hospitals, medical centres, medical stores and electricity.
As per the orders of the government, if certain offices are not able to work from home then they would be asked to shut down. The attendance in government offices will be reduced to 25%.
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Thackeray also asked the employers to not cut the salaries of the employees during the shutdown.
However, train and bus services will continue to operate. The chief minister said that shutting down public transport in Mumbai will be the last resort.
On Friday, three more people tested positive for coronavirus, bringing the number of confirmed cases in the state to 52 — the highest in the country.
Coronavirus outbreak: Complete coverage
The deadly coronavirus that originated in the Wuhan province of China has spread to more than 100 countries now killing more than 9,000 people and infecting lakhs of others. The labs and pharma companies are all geared up to find solution to this problem and they might come up with some medicine/vaccine soon. However, till then the only solution to this problem is precautions.
Coronavirus in India
As per the latest update, there are 195 positive cases of coronavirus in India and four people have been killed. As a precautionary measure, the government has shut international flights, malls, cinema halls, restaurants, pubs, and other places where people can gather in large numbers. Offices have advised employees to work from home. Schools, colleges, universities have also postponed all the exams.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his address to nation on March 19, called for ‘Janata curfew’ on March 22 from 7AM to 9PM to contain the spread of coronavirus.
Also Read: What is ‘Janata curfew’?
Stages of the spread of COVID19
According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), India is currently in the second stage of coronavirus transmissions. It is considered the most crucial phase of the transmission of the disease. The four stages of the spread of the COVID19 are:
Stage 1 – Imported Cases: People who have traveled to virus-hit foreign countries and have come back to India.
Stage 2 – Local Transmission: These are those cases who have come in contact with patients who have a travel history.
Stage 3 – Community Transmission: When a patient not exposed to any infected person or one who has travelled to any of the affected countries tests positive. Large areas get affected when community transmission takes place.
Stage 4 – Epidemic: This is the last and the worst stage where the disease takes the shape of an epidemic with no clear endpoint like it did in China and Italy.
Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/covid19-what-does-mumbai-lockdown-means/articleshow/74728191.cms