Corona Cases Increasing At Concerning Levels in India

Corona menace is increasing for India. On Friday, coronavirus cases in India climbed to 250 on Friday after over 40 people were infected with the fast-spreading virus in various parts of the country. Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has declared that a total of 271 individuals have been confirmed positive among suspected cases and contacts of known positive cases by 10 AM today.

The cases were increasing at a rapid pace for the last two days. With a huge number of cases being reported, ICMR on Saturday revised its testing policy. As per the new policy all hospitalized patients with severe acute respiratory illness, shortness of breath and having fever and cough will now be tested for COVID-19 infection.

So far, only those with travel history and those who are close contacts of the infected are being tested. The testing capacities are low until now and the Government is trying to increase that. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs issued a notification that Retail prices of hand sanitizers have been capped at ₹100 for a 200 ml bottle.

The prices of surgical masks (3 ply) and non-woven masks also were capped at ₹10 and ₹8 respectively. On the other side, the country is gearing up for Janatha Curfew tomorrow from 7 AM to 9 PM. All the non-essential transport is being stopped. Trains were canceled and Hyderabad Metro will also stop its operations.

The Government is hoping that the Janatha Curfew will be a success and it will break the chain of infections. There are speculations that Janatha Curfew is a rehearsal to a complete lockdown of the country if it becomes necessary in the coming days.