COVID19: India enters fourth day of lockdown today
New Delhi/IBNS: India is observing its fourth day of lockdown on Saturday to fight the spread of COVID 19 as the virus has so far infected over 800 people in the country and left 19 people dead.
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Ministry of Health as well as members of Covid-19 task force maintain that the community transmission of coronavirus is not happening at the moment, however, preparations to tackle such a situation have already begun, reported Hindustan Times.
The Ministry of Health said 66 people have cured of the disease.
Meanwhile, five members of a family in Kolkata, including three children, have tested positive for novel coronavirus, taking the tally in West Bengal to 15 in a single day, officials confirmed on Friday.
"Two women, aged 27 and 45 years, and three children, aged 9 months, 11 years and 6 years, have been found Covid-19 after the second confirmation test which was done at NICED," a senior official of state health department said.
"Though these five persons, who belong to a closed group of siblings and relatives, didn't travel to any foreign country in recent times, they reportedly have a history of contact to a Covid-19 positive case, who returned from the UK on Mar 16, in Delhi," the official added.
With people largely responding to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's appeal for staying at home, the bustling Indian streets were mostly empty except the movement of essential services in the third day of the lockdown.
People wearing masks in neighbourhoods across Indian cities and towns ventured out in small numbers to buy food items and other essentials from the shops which were open amid a police crackdown on violators of the lockdown restrictions.
Earlier in the day, amid the panic among people regarding the food availability during the nationwide lockdown, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said his government will feed four lakh people from tomorrow ensuring that no one will remain hungry in the national capital.
Kejriwal also announced free food will be given in 325 schools for poor and homeless people as the country entered the third day of 21-day lockdown which was called by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to stop the spread of COVID-19.
In a slew of steps to ease the crisis, the Reserve Bank of India on Friday announced that repo rate has been slashed by 75 basis points to 4.4 percent. Making the announcement, RBI governor Shaktikanta Das said: "The repo rate has been reduced by 75 basis points to 4.4 percent."
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