As the fear of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic outbreak is slowly gripping India, the Delhi government on Friday requested all private sector companies located in the city to allow their employees to work from home till March 31. Citizens were also advised to remain at home, particularly senior citizens and people suffering from certain medical conditions.
According to an advisory issued by the Health and Family Welfare department of the Delhi government, the steps were in regulation of the Delhi Epidemic Diseases, COVID-19, Regulations, 2020 under the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897.
The advisory reads, “… the following directions are hereby issued for the purpose of prevention and control of the outbreak of epidemic disease namely COVID-19 in NCT of Delhi, with immediate effect: –
- All private sector ffices (including Multi National Companies, IT Firms, Industries, Corporate offices, etc.) situated in NCT of Delhi are advised to allow their officers/employees to work from home till 31st March, 2020.
- General public is advised to remain at Home, particularly senior citizens, person affected with Hypertension/Diabetes/respiratory diseases/pregnant women/cardiac diseases/patient taking steroids and children.
The advisory was signed by Padmini Singla, secretary of the Health & Family Welfare department of the Delhi government.
The Delhi Metro will not run on this coming Sunday (March 22) and all metro rail-related services will also remain closed for the day in view of the “Janata curfew”, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) informed on Friday.
According to a statement issued by the DMRC, the move is aimed at encouraging the public to stay indoors to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
The call to observe a “Janata curfew” or a ‘People’s Curfew’ on Sunday was announced by the Prime Minister a day before in a public address to the nation. While speaking on the way ahead for India in tackling the coronavirus outbreak and the initiative that the citizens need to take, Modi urged that the entire country observe the curfew on Sunday, i.e. they should stay indoors and work from home on that day, also encouraging them to extend the practice for the following days.
Meanwhile, the total number of coronavirus cases in the national capital rose to 14 on Thursday, according to the Delhi Health Department.
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