Himachal Pradesh’s CM announces ‘indefinite’ complete lockdown

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur has announced an indefinite lockdown across the state to check the spread of Coronavirus. The announcement was made on Monday in the Assembly, making Himachal the 14th state to go under a complete lockdown. Before this, it was Nagaland that announced an indefinite lockdown while most states announced shut down till March 31.

The CM has asked people to stay calm and not to panic. He also mentioned that the state government is ready to deal with any kind of situation. The minister further said that the state lockdown will be in force until further notice. Meanwhile, the lockdown will not affect important services. The state government was forced to take the strict decision after two confirmed Coronavirus cases were reported on Sunday from Kangra district. A 64-year-old woman from Dohabe and a 32-year-old man from Harchakkian in Himachal have tested positive for the virus. The hill state has also sealed its borders and has prohibited entry of tourists till 31 March.
Till Saturday, nearly 1030 people were under surveillance in Himachal Pradesh. As of now, quarantine wards have been created in the Indira Gandhi Medical College (Shimla), Government Medical College (Tanda) and Government Medical College (Mandi).

Other states that announced lockdowns include Maharashtra, Kerala, Haryana, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Punjab, Delhi, Nagaland, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand and Rajasthan. This is in addition to the 80 districts locked down by the Central government.