The Chief Minister of Delhi has announced a complete lockdown in Delhi from 6 A.M. on Monday 23rd March. The action is taken to control the spread of Coronavirus in Delhi. It is not just Delhi that has taken preventive measures and closed its borders, but 80 other districts have done the same. The capital borders will remain closed till 31st March. The decision was taken in the evening just before ‘The Janta Curfew’ was about to end. Let’s explain what Lockdown means and how it impacts the people and the spread of the virus.
What is Lockdown?
A lockdown basically means closing borders, suspending all non-essential or semi-essential services, businesses and asking people to remain indoors. A lockdown is implemented not only in Delhi but across 80 other districts to ensure people stay indoors hoping to stop the spread of Coronavirus.
Here is the list of services that will remain suspended till 31st March 2020.
1. Public transport including private buses, taxi services, auto and e-rickshaw will not be available to the public till 31st March. 25percent of the DTC fleet will remain active to cater to essential services.
2. Shops, Factories, most govt and all private offices will remain closed.
3. All Interstate bus operations are suspended.
4. All Delhi borders will remain sealed only allowing transports carrying the essential goods.
5. All International flights have already been suspended.
6. All religious places will also remain closed.
7. Section 144 is also applicable in Delhi, which prohibits the gathering of people.
8. Metro services have also been suspended.
The schools have already been closed till further notice in Delhi. The Chief Minister also clarified that all the offices would remain closed but the employees would be considered on duty and will be paid in full.
The CM Arvind Kejriwal also added that strict action would be taken against people who will not abide by the Lockdown imposed in Delhi along with people who are black-marketing masks and hand sanitizers.
The services that will remain available to people.
1. Fire, municipal, water, electricity, police and magisterial services will remain active along with ration shops.
2. Print and electronic media are also allowed to work.
3. Telecommunications and postal services.
4. Petrol pumps, chemists, hospitals, confectionery shops along with e-commerce services will keep on working with due precautions of course.
5. Take away, and delivery services in restaurants are allowed.
The state governments of Nagaland, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Punjab and West Bengal have announced a complete lockdown along with Delhi.
According to the orders issued, the assembly of any kind, be it for demonstrations, processions or protests is banned. This also includes the protesters at Shaheen Bagh. Any gathering- social, cultural, political, religious, academic, sports, seminar or conference is prohibited due to section 144 along with Lockdown.
The action is taken after a steep rise was seen in the number of coronavirus patients in the past couple of days. It is to control the advance of the Coronavirus into phase 3 as most of the countries have already suffered significant loss of life in phase 3. If India should enter phase 3, entering phase 4 becomes inevitable, which entails even further loss of life. Let’s hope for the best and not panic because the governments are so far doing good to control the spread.