India is under a lockdown to check the spread of coronavirus disease Covid-19, as announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his address to the nation on Tuesday.
There is chaos at several inter-state borders and people try to go to their homes; in fact, the labourers have to walk hunderds of kilometres in order to reach home as train and bus services are suspended.
Not just India, more than three billion people around the world are living under lockdown as governments stepped up their efforts against the coronavirus pandemic which has left more than 20,000 people dead.
As the number of confirmed cases worldwide soared past 450,000, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned that only a concerted global effort could stop the spread of the virus.
Here are the latest developments in India as well as the world:
• In India, the total number of Covid-19 positive cases crossed 600 on Wednesday. 10 people have died so far of the disease in the country.
• India struggled to enforce complete lockdown on Wednesday as people crowded markets trying to stock up and police allegedly being high handed in several states
• With borders shutting, thousands of migrant workers tried to find shelter and food in the national capital
• Drug distributors are unable to maintain their supply chains due to lockdown
• Government has issued guidelines on telemedicine to tide over lockdown
• E-commerce giant Flipkart has announced it will resume sale of essential products
• Indian doctors are being evicted from their homes in many parts of the country of Sars-CoV-2 transmission fears
• India likely to announce economic stimulus package of about Rs 1.5 trillion to tide over the crisis
• The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has authorised 29 private labs to conduct testing for Covid-19
Global:
• The total number of Covid-19 infections across the world stand at 416,686 infections. More than 18,000 people have died
• More than three billion people are under lockdown globally
• New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has said that the restrictions imposed in the city are slowing the spread of the virus
• Of the 30,800 people infected in US, 17,800 are in New York City. So far, 285 deaths have been reported by the state
• All bars, entertainment areas are going to be closed in Singapore which has over 500 infections
• US Senate and White House have agreed on a $2 trillion rescue package for the American economy battered by the coronavirus outbreak
• Prince Charles tests positive for Sars-CoV-2 virus
• Death toll in Spain reached 738 on Wednesday, surpassing China and second to Italy
• Thousands have been laid off in the US due to economic slowdown following the coronavirus outbreak
• Chicago is using hotels to ease quarantine demands
