Coronavirus India live news: Gujarat, Karnataka to go under total lockdown till March 31

A suspected corona patient being seated on the first row of an aircraft led to such a scare that all the passengers disembarked from the rear exit and the pilots via the cockpit. This happened on AirAsia India flight I5-732 from Pune to Delhi on March 20. The passengers were subsequently screened and tested negative.

How do you observe janata curfew if you don’t have a home? This was the plight faced by the homeless on Sunday as they didn’t know where to go to remain safe. Indulekha, her husband and five children were among those clustered under Nizamuddin flyover who didn’t have any masks or sanitisers to keep themselves safe. “We have been living on the streets for the past seven years, but have never felt so unsafe. We don’t have an option. The government should show concern about those who have no means to safeguard themselves,” said the woman who sells balloons to make a living. Sunday was a tough day for her as there was no one to buy balloons.

The BMC from Saturday began informing the city police about air passengers who were put in home quarantine, in order to keep tabs on them. The police have been asked not to share this information with these citizens’ housing societies, fearing they might be ostracised. Housing societies are also being informed about their members who have tested positive for coronavirus.

Karnataka announced an intensified lockdown in nine districts affected by Covid-19 as the state recorded six more cases on Sunday — the highest in a day — taking the total to 26. The new measures include sealing borders with neighbouring states and screening domestic passengers arriving in Bengaluru and Mangaluru airports.

With very limited tertiary medical care facilities and lacking even a government medical college, the Wayanad district authorities have taken stringent precautionary measures to remain Covid-19-free, including seizing passports of expats who are found roaming around violating house quarantine norms.

Three more people tested positive for Covid-19 in Tamil Nadu on Sunday and the government will decide on Monday if three districts —Chennai, Kancheepuram and Erode — should be totally locked down till the end of the month as the whole state voluntarily was during the ‘janata curfew.’

Domestic flights will continue to operate to and from the Delhi airport and Indira Gandhi International Airport will not be part of the national capital lockdown announced by the state government. The aviation ministry spokesperson categorically said, “IGIA shall remain functional” on Sunday evening, after the state’s lockdown order said “all domestic/international flights arriving to Delhi during this time shall be suspended”. Schedule international flights in and out of any Indian airport are not allowed till next March 29.