As Covid-19 cases in India are now growing at a fast clip — 415 at last count — and early signs of the start of community transmission emerge, India on Monday resorted to desperate steps to contain the spread of the highly contagious virus. The aviation ministry ordered suspension of domestic air travel effective Wednesday till March 31; at least three states — Maharashtra, Punjab and Kerala —came under curfew on Tuesday while others, too, resorted to curbs on assorted human activities, including restriction of public transport. On its part, the Centre asked state governments to strictly enforce lockdown and take legal action against violators.
To offer relief to businesses struggling to cope with the impact of the Covid-19 outbreak on their liquidity position, State Bank of India (SBI) has decided to extend an emergency credit line to eligible corporate borrowers and MSMEs.
A senior official with a Delhi-based public-sector bank said his bank, too, was considering such a proposal. A top government official, however, said the finance ministry hasn’t issued any directive to PSBs to force them to open such emergency credit lines.
The coronavirus outbreak came at a time when credit flow was already faltering. Even before the pandemic started to spread, non-food credit growth had crashed to just 6.3% year-on-year in the fortnight through February 14, the lowest since May 2017.
Global rating agency S&P has estimated the income loss for the Asia-Pacific region due to the Covid-19 outbreak at a massive $620 billion. This loss will be distributed across sovereign, bank, corporate, and household balance sheets, it said. It has also warned that its growth forecasts remain subject to much higher-than-normal uncertainty.
“The operations of domestic schedule commercial airlines shall cease with effect from the midnight that is 23.59 hours IST (Indian Standard Time) on March 24, 2020,” an aviation ministry spokesperson said, adding, “airlines have to plan operations so as to land at their destinations before 23.59 hours on March 24, 2020.” Cargo flights will continue to operate.
India reported 55 fresh Covid-19 cases, taking the tally to 415 on Monday, the Union health ministry said. Globally, the virus, which originated from China’s Wuhan nearly three months ago, has claimed over 15,000 lives and infected nearly 3.5 lakh people so far. On Monday, India confirmed its eighth death – of a 54-year-old man with no history of foreign travel, suggesting the start of community transmission of the virus.
Meanwhile, streets were deserted in New Delhi and adjoining areas and offices shut at the start of a lockdown to run till the end of the month. Over 35 districts in MP are under lockdown. Lockdown began in Telangana early Tuesday; people were earlier seen rushing to buy veggies and essential items.
Stung by the spurt of 28 new Coronavirus positive cases in a single day, Kerala has decided to go for complete lockdown till March 31. Earlier the state hovernment had planned to go for a district-specific semi-lockdown, when the new test results tilted the decision. In all, 95 people have tested positive in Kerala. Of these four have recovered and got discharged from hospital. 64,320 people are under observation, mostly in home quarantine.
“Anticipating a community outbreak, we are ready with a plan C, preparing 3,028 isolation beds and harnessing a mix of private and public hospitals. In Plan B, 1,408 isolation beds have been readied. As of now, it is the 1,000-beds Plan A, that is being rolled out,” State Health Minister KK Shylaja told FE.
Punjab on Monday became the first in the country to impose curfew in the entire state with no relaxations, and only exempted essential services to prevent the infection, while Maharshtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said curfew will be imposed in the entire state from Monday midnight as the fight against coronavirus has reached a “turning point”.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also asked state governments to ensure that rules and regulations of the coronavirus lockdown are enforced as he noted that many people are not taking the measure seriously.”Many people are still not taking the lockdown seriously. Please save yourself, save your family, follow the instructions seriously. I request state governments to ensure rules and laws are followed,” he said in a tweet in Hindi.
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