Haryana CM announces statewide lockdown

A day after announcing lockdown in seven districts of Haryana, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Monday announced complete lockdown in the state by extending it to 15 more districts from tomorrow morning.

"Yesterday, seven districts in the state were locked down where positive cases were found. Today we have decided to lockdown the other 15 districts from tomorrow morning," Khattar said.

On Sunday, the Haryana government announced lockdown in seven districts - Faridabad, Gurugram, Rohtak, Jhajjar, Sonipat, Panipat and Panchkula - till March 31.

The state government said that no public transport, except for vehicles going to and from hospitals, airports, railway station, bus terminals/bus stands and for the purpose of essential services, will be allowed on streets.

During the lockdown, all shops, commercial establishments, offices and factories, workshops, godowns and others have been ordered to remain closed except essential services.

The government officials also said that the foreign returnees will have to remain under strict home quarantine for a period as decided by local health authorities.

Haryana has 21 positive cases of COVID-19, including 14 foreign nationals. On the other hand, Punjab, so far, has reported one death due to the disease while 21 positive cases have been confirmed in the state.

According to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the total number of COVID-19 positive cases in the country stood at 433.