Coronavirus in India live updates: Total number of cases in Delhi rises to 27

Namma Metro services will be regulated from March 23 (Monday) to March 31 (Tuesday) to facilitate social distancing as a measure for countering the spread of Covid–19 pandemic. There will be no service between 10am to 4pm and 8pm-6am. The frequency of Metro from Monday will be: 6-8am at 10 minutes frequency (for persons working for essential services only), 8 to 10am at 5 minutes frequency (for all having unavoidable and essential need to travel), 4 to 5pm (10 minutes frequency), 5 to 7pm (five minutes frequency), 7 to 8pm (10 minutes) frequency.

In what could be a sign of things to come, Delhi Metro is going to regulate train services on Monday, March 23. On Sunday, March 22 Delhi Metro services are going to be closed in wake of ‘Janta Curfew’. On Monday, Delhi Metro services for general public will be available only from 8am to 10am and then again from 4pm to 8pm. From 6am to 8am, only those involved in essential services will be allowed to enter metro stations and there will be no metro services from 10am to 4pm and after 8pm.

All public and private sector employees will be paid full wages for maintaining social distance and participating in the janata curfew on Sunday, said the state government in a public notice. The government has said that as per Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s directions, full-time employees as well as daily wage labourers have to be paid for following the social distancing diktat. The state government has also issued an advisory to all industrial units and private sector firms to adopt staged timings and consider work from home for those firms that can afford to do so.

The Delhi government on Saturday said the novel coronavirus was causing terrible financial stress to the poor and announced that those receiving ration from fair-price shops would get 50 per cent extra for next month. During his first-ever digital-only press conference, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal doubled the pension for widows, differently-abled and elderly for this month. Urging people to stay indoors, Kejriwal said the government had not imposed a lockdown in Delhi for now, but would have to do it if the need arises in the wake of coronavirus pandemic.

The number of coronavirus patients in Punjab surged to 13 on Saturday, official said. A media bulletin issued by the Punjab government said the number of coronavirus positive patients went up to 13 in the state. As of now, testing of 181 samples has been conducted and out of which, reports of 141 persons came negative, it said. The reports of 23 persons with suspected coronavirus are awaited, the bulletin said.

The West Bengal government has decided to postpone the ongoing Higher Secondary (Class XII) Board examinations and called off the class XI examinations which are held by the schools based on question papers provided by the West Bengal Higher Secondary Council. All the exams will be rescheduled after April 15.

All the major tourist hotspots in Visakhapatnam district, a majority of which are in the agency area, have gone into closure mode. The ITDA authorities are making sure that tourists do not step into the agency at all. The ITDA authorities have decided to ward off tourists from the Ghat road entry points ( S Kota-Araku road, Vaddadi-Paderu road, Narsiptanam- ghat and also the road that connects to Orissa) and sentries will be put up at all the four Ghat-road points leading to the agency hot-spots such as Araku, Paderu, Tajangi, Lammasinghi, Chaprai and Kothapalli water-falls, which are very popular with the tourists.

In a major decision aimed at curbing the spread of coronavirus, the Chhattisgarh government on Saturday ordered to keep all its offices, except those providing essential and emergency services, shut till March 31, officials said. Operations of buses in all urban areas have also been suspended till March 29, they said. So far, one confirmed case of coronavirus has been detected in the state, where schools, colleges, universities, anganwadis, public libraries, swimming pools, cinema halls, multiplexes, water parks, malls, coaching centres, clubs, beauty parlour, spa and gyms, have been shut.

First major impact of coronavirus (COVID-19) hit four Madhya Pradesh districts on Saturday. Total lockdown has been ordered for Jabalpur, Rewa, Seoni and Narsinghpur. MP CS M Gopal Reddy took stock of the situation in a video conferencing with district collectors on Saturday. Narsinghpur would be placed under 14-day lockdown from midnight on Saturday. Jabalpur and Rewa would be under lockdown for three days and in Seoni became effective from noon on Saturday. The decision was taken in emergency meeting held in midnight of district and police administration after four cases of coronavirus were found positive in Jabalpur. Section 144 has been imposed to implement the total Lock down.