A total of 30 states and Union Territories have imposed complete lockdown, covering a total of 548 districts in the country, to check the spread of coronavirus, the government said on Monday. Six other states have put in place similar restrictions in some areas in the wake of the outbreak. There are 28 states and 8 Union Territories in the country. As on Sunday, 80 districts were under lockdown. The central government has also asked states to enforce additional restrictions, if necessary, leading to the imposition of curfew in Punjab and Maharashtra.
As many people continued to venture out despite the lockdown order, Puducherry, besides Punjab and Maharashtra, also ordered curfew so that no one goes out of their homes.
A tweet by the Press Information Bureau said the states which have imposed lockdown in all districts include Chandigarh, Delhi, Goa, Jammu and Kashmir and Nagaland.
The other states are Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Ladakh, Tripura, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Meghalaya, Jharkhand, Bihar, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Haryana, Daman Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Karnataka and Assam.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has appealed to state governments to ensure that rules and regulations of the coronavirus lockdown are enforced strictly as he noted that many people were not following the measures seriously.
"Many people are still not taking the lockdown seriously. Please save yourself, save your family, follow the instructions seriously. I request state governments to ensure rules and laws are followed," Modi said in a tweet in Hindi.
The death toll due to the novel coronavirus pandemic rose to 9 on Monday after West Bengal and Himachal Pradesh reported a casualty each, while the number of confirmed cases soared to 468, the Union Health Ministry said.
The central and state governments had on Sunday announced lockdown in about 80 districts where at least one confirmed case of COVID-19 was reported.
Meanwhile, Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba wrote a letter to State Chief Secretaries urging them to monitor the situation round the clock.
Gauba said additional restrictions if necessary may be imposed and all current restrictions must be enforced strongly.
All violations should be met with legal action, the Cabinet Secretary told the states and UTs.
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