Govt mulls turning religious centres into quarantine facilities

New Delhi [India], Apr 2 (ANI): With a surge in number of COVID-19 positive cases in the country, the goverment is exploring possibilities to turn some religious places into quarantine facilities.

A team of ITBP on Thursday visited the premises of Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB) situated in Delhi.

"Our chief of Radha Soami Satsang Beas has already offered the government to use its premises for quarantine purposes if needed," Gurminder, Sewadar of RSSB, told ANI.

Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) officials led by an IG rank officer visited the Delhi premises of the religious body.

RSSB is also distributing foods across the country for the needy people, administration and the government, said Gurminder.

Recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a video conferencing with various heads of religious sects. During this interaction, RSSB chief Gurinder Singh Dhillon said that all RSSB centres are ready. "Our premises are available for the government 24x7. They can be used for food, isolation wards or quarantine centre," he said to the Prime Minister during video conferencing.

The RSSB centre has been given to the Delhi government and Delhi Police for isolation use.

This comes even as the country is under a 21-day lockdown to prevent the spread of coronavirus. The total number of coronavirus cases in India climbed to 1,965 on Thursday, said the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.