What is a lockdown, the order that state governments have passed to fight coronavirus?

As the number of coronavirus cases in India continue to rise, several state governments have stepped up their efforts to tackle the problem by imposing a lockdown at least till March 31. The total number of active coronavirus positive cases in India reached 359 on Monday, including the foreign nationals, the Union Health Ministry said. According to data available on Health Ministry`s website, seven deaths have been reported in India so far.

"A total of 23 patients have been cured and discharged. Seven deaths have been reported across the country," the Health Ministry said. Among the 22 states and union territories where the cases were found, Maharashtra had the highest patient count followed by Kerala.

On the same day, Centre has asked states to strictly impose coronavirus lockdown and take legal action against violators. However, there is still a lot of confusion around what exactly is a lockdown and what all you are allowed to do during one. 

What is a lockdown?

The first stage of lockdown is to curb all major public modes of transports. These include metro services, passenger trains as well as public buses. Many states in India including the national capital have suspended all of these till March 31. The state governments have also ordered all but essential commercial establishments to shut down and ordered commercial passenger vehicles off the roads.

However, people need to understand that there is no need to panic. They can continue living a normal life, although with social distancing. All the states have allowed essential services to continue in 75 coronavirus-hit districts. This means that grocery stores, bank ATMs and pharmacies will continue to remain open. 

For example, Delhi is exempting these services: "Law and order and magisterial duty, police, health, fire, prisons, fair price shops, electricity, water, municipal services, print and electronic media, teller operations including ATMs, food items, groceries, general provision stores, take-away delivery in restaurants, petrol pumps, LPG cylinder agencies, e-commerce of all essential goods including food, pharmaceuticals and medical equipment."

What should you do?

First of all, you need to remain calm and not panic. The world is going through a tough time but things will be normal soon. You just need to follow government’s instructions, take basic precautions and things will be fine.