Health Minister Rajesh Tope on Thursday warned Mumbaikars that if they don’t comply with government advisories to curb the novel coronavirus outbreak, the city could be put into a complete lockdown.
He also said it has been observed that some people are diverting their travel through countries not notified by the Union government for quarantine. He said there is an increasing demand to suspend all international flights arriving at Mumbai, Pune and Nagpur airports for the next 10 days.
Meanwhile, the State government on Thursday issued a circular to cancel all departmental meetings. Officials will meet only in case of an utmost emergency. The circular said that in case meetings were to be held, the seating arrangement should ensure a safe distance between officials.
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“Passengers from countries notified by the Union government are being quarantined and, if required, kept in isolation. But we have observed that some people are diverting their travel through a country which isn’t listed by the government,” Mr. Tope said.
He was speaking to reporters at his official residence before visiting the screening facility at Mumbai airport.
Mr. Tope said there have been cases of travellers from Spain, which is severely hit by virus, choosing to fly to Mumbai from the Netherlands to escape screening.
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The Health Minister said that the government will request airport authorities to check the travel history for the last month of people arriving on international flights to Mumbai.