India heads for complete lockdown as coronavirus cases jumps to 396

March 22: Amid a countrywide ‘Janta Curfew’, several Indian states today announced lockdowns in some form or the other to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus outbreak. The number of Coronavirus infected people in India reached 396 at 6 PM on Sunday heralding the onset of the third and critical phase of the pandemic.

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) data said that India now has 396 coronavirus infected people; out of which 24 recovered and 6 died. COVID_!9 cases in India saw the biggest single-day jump. On Sunday, a total of 81 positive cases were reported.

A total of 18,127 samples from 17,237 individuals have been tested for coronavirus as on 22 March, 2020. This was informed by ICMR. The central government has ordered complete lockdown in 75 districts where cases have been detected.

Jammu & Kashmir, Chandigarh, Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Odisha, Nagaland, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Gujarat,and Rajasthan have announced shutdowns as well, barring essential services. Maharashtra has announced Section 144 across all urban areas of the state, in addition to the partial shutdown in Mumbai, Pune and Nagpur. Fifteen Uttar Pradesh districts, including Lucknow, Varanasi and Kanpur, will be under lockdown till March 25 in the first phase. Kolkata and several areas across West Bengal will be put under lockdown from Monday 5 p.m. till March 27.