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Coronavirus blockade likely to extend after May 17, for the third time
New Delhi:
Allowing public transportation, including metro and flight services, and restarting economic activity in non-containment zones were some of the proposals sent by states to the Prime Minister’s Office, as the center develops plans for an exit gradual national closure. Earlier this week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a six-hour video call with several senior ministers and asked for the states’ opinion on this matter. Lockdown 4.0 will seek to project “normality on the ground”. The current shutdown, the third since it ran on March 25, is slated to end on Sunday. It will expand again, given the sharp increase in the number of cases, but with red flags on the condition of the economy, further easing is likely to occur in economic activity. Across India, coronavirus cases increased by 3,976 in the past 24 hours, with 100 deaths reported at the time. The total number of cases in the country has crossed 81,000, with 2,649 deaths related to the virus.
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Several states, including Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka, Gujarat and the national capital of Delhi, have suggested reopening large sectors of the economy and society closed during the previous closing phases. Andhra, for example, has proposed to resume all economic and public activities in non-containment areas. The southern state has 2,137 cases of COVID-19 according to data from the Interior Ministry and 11,422 people in quarantine.
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Delhi Prime Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who addressed the media on Thursday after receiving comments from residents, said some economic activities should be allowed in Delhi except in the containment areas. He called for the removal of more curbs in Delhi, all of which has been designated as the “red zone” to suggest a high concentration of cases.
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Kerala, a state that relies heavily on tourism for income, wants subway services, local trains, domestic flights, restaurants and hotels to be reopened. The state, which reported India’s first three cases of coronavirus, has made remarkable progress in flattening the infection curve: of 560 reported cases, nearly 500 have been cured and only four deaths have been reported. This makes the state’s request feasible, an official said.
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Karnataka, who has also done well to contain the viral outbreak, has asked the center for permission to reopen restaurants, hotels and gyms, public spaces closed weeks ago to encourage social distancing and control the spread of the virus. Karnataka has 959 active coronavirus cases, according to data from the Interior Ministry, with another 1,518 isolates. Last week he allowed pubs and bars to sell liquor, to go “until May 17.”
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Tamil Nadu has also called for economic activity to resume, except in the containment areas. The request is likely to be viewed with caution, given that the state has seen a massive increase in COVID-19 cases in recent days. A vegetable market in the state capital, Chennai, has been linked to more than 2,600 cases. However, the AIADMK ruling has said that it has managed to identify areas where the virus is spreading rapidly. 4,623 people are in quarantine in the state that, as of Monday, announced important relaxations, including the extension of the working hours for shops and private establishments.
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Gujarat, which has 9,591 cases and has reported 586 deaths, wants to resume all economic activity in all the main urban centers. This occurs despite a large number of cases in cities like Ahmedabad, Surat and Vadodara, with three representing 80 percent of the state’s cases; Ahmedabad only represents 70 percent of that figure, according to data from the Interior Ministry. Sources say the center is concerned about the situation in Gujarat, where up to 2,08,537 people remain in quarantine.
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Maharashtra, the worst affected state, is reluctant to open too much economy or too many offices. With nearly 30,000 cases and more than 1,000 deaths, the state government today announced an extension of the confinement in Mumbai and elsewhere; Mumbai, widely regarded as the financial capital of India, has almost 16,000 cases on its own. The ruling government of Congress Shiv Sena-NCP, however, has announced important offers for industries. At 1,289 and counting, the state also has the maximum number of containment zones of any other. It also has about three lakhs of people in quarantine, raising fears about the already stressed health infrastructure.
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Bihar, Jharkhand and Odisha have gone the other way, with all three states calling for the strict closure to continue. COVID-19 case numbers in these states are increasing, and are expected to increase further, with the return of stranded migrants across the country. Bihar’s chief minister Nitish Kumar has made it clear that the blockade on his state will last until May 31. He also said that the relaxation of the guidelines should be left to the district administrations. Bihar has 994 cases and seven deaths, Jharkhand has 197 cases and three deaths, and Odisha has 611 cases and three deaths.
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Uttar Pradesh is also likely to present a major challenge to the center, with the populous state reporting 3,902 positive cases and 88 deaths so far. Prime Minister Yogi Adityanath’s government also has 2.3 lakh of people in quarantine or isolation. Punjab’s COVID-19 numbers have also increased in recent days, with 1,935 reported cases, 32 deaths and almost 40,000 in quarantine. Punjab Prime Minister Amarinder Singh is among those who called for an extension of the blockade, declaring during the meeting with Prime Minister Modi that “we must have a strong blockade. I will guarantee a curfew.”
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Assam has also called for an extension of the blockade. Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, who also indicated that it was the center’s decision to make a decision on this matter, was quoted by ANI news agency: “Let the Government of India take an opinion because it is not a single step. .. many steps have to be considered. “
With contributions from ANI
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