In the wake of the Novel Coronavirus outbreak, the Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday invoked the Epidemic Diseases Act of 1897 and declared a new set of bans to limit the spread of the highly contagious disease.
In the press release, the AAP supremo announced a complete ban on social, religious and political gatherings of more than 50 people in the national capital. The ban, effective immediately, will also be applicable on Shaheen Bagh ‘protest’ site where Muslim women have been sitting on a ‘protest’ against the amended Citizenship Law for the past three months now.
Disregarding the government appeal to avoid large gatherings and crowded places, the Shaheen Bagh protestors have been recklessly continuing with their demonstration. They have apparently been praying and reading the Quran at the protest site, believing that praying to Allah would safeguard them from the coronavirus crisis.
“We have already shut schools, colleges, swimming pools so far. Today, it has been decided to order gyms, night clubs and spas also to close as a precautionary measure,” Kejriwal said while addressing a media briefing after a review of the steps taken by the city government to prevent community transmission of the infection.
“All religious, social, cultural gatherings with more than 50 people have been banned,” said Arvind Kejriwal. The ban would not apply to weddings, said the Chief Minister, asking people to avoid them voluntarily.
दिल्ली सरकार ने Coronavirus को फैलने से रोकने के लिए आज कुछ नए क़दम उठाए हैं https://t.co/bE6AeY8VvK
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) March 16, 2020
Arvind Kejriwal underscored that precautionary measures, especially regular washing of hands, using sanitisers could help deal with the deadly disease, furthering that mobile washbasins with soap would be installed at various places in the city.
“Five hundred beds that have been kept aside in case there is a need for hospitalisation at a large scale,” Kejriwal said, furthering that the administration was prepared for an eventuality where a larger number of people may be infected as a precautionary measure.
The national capital has reported seven confirmed coronavirus cases so far. As of now, India has 112 confirmed cases of COVID-19 coronavirus and two people have as of now died with the infection.
