States working to provide food, shelter to migrant workers: Centre

Amid nationwide lockdown, the Centre on Thursday said the state governments are working on measures to provide food and shelter to migrant workers.

"The government is taking steps to ensure the production, supply or distribution of essential goods and services do not get affected during coronavirus lockdown. States are working to provide food and shelter to migrant workers," Punya Salila Srivastava, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, told media here.

R Ganga Ketkar of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said the steps taken by the government are so effective that if the people follow them strictly, the coronavirus cases will hardly increase in the country.

Lav Aggarwal, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, said, "On our request, work has started in around 17 states for COVID-19 dedicated hospitals."

A total of 649 confirmed cases of COVID-19 have been reported in India so far, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare informed today.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday announced a 21-day lockdown in the entire country to deal with the spread of coronavirus, saying that "social distancing" is the only option to deal with the disease, which spreads rapidly.