As the nationwide lockdown to prevent the spread of coronavirus infection entered Day 7, several fresh cases of infection were reported on March 31 from Delhi, Maharashtra, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Jammu and Kashmir and Bihar, among other places, taking the nationwide tally well past 1,400 with at least 45 deaths, as per figures announced by government officials in different States.
The Central government separately told the Supreme Court it has taken “proactive and preemptive timely steps” to deal with the coronavirus pandemic, but termed fake news as the biggest hindrance and sought a direction for the media not to publish any COVID-19 information without ascertaining facts with authorities.
Here are some of the pictures from our photographers highlighting the situation in various parts of the country.
People wait in a queue to avail free ration items announced by the government, at Raj Bhavan, in Hyderabad, Telangana.
Social-distancing themselves, people form a queue to buy vegetables at a temporary market shifted to the new bus-stand in Puducherry. Vegetable markets have been decentralised at nine different locations in the Union Territory during the nationwide lockdown.
Local residents place sacks and barbs on a road that leads to Madhuranagar in Hyderabad in order to prevent the entry of outsiders and follow social distancing, during the 21-day nationwide lockdown due to coronavirus outbreak.
A young shepherd from Bamanwadi village in Karnataka’s Belagavi district is quite convinced that the face mask will not only protect him, but also his pet goat from the COVID-19 infection.
It might be a rare sight to see an elephant walking on arterial stretches, that too on a weekday, thanks to the nationwide lockdown which paved way for it. Two men ride on an elephant on this usually busy Sabarmati river bridge in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.
Jammu and Kashmir police personnel clap hands to appreciate people wearing masks as they venture out, in Srinagar.
Two persons pass through a sanitiser tunnel in order make themselves infection-free at Kidney Hospital, in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.
When the entire nation has been silenced by the countrywide lockdown, these Tamil Nadu health workers seem to break the silence, but to pass on a message to the people. They announce about the dos and don’ts and also share the precautionary measures the residents need to take to stop the spread of coronavirus, in Pudupet area in Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
An old man uses his ration bag as a mask as he waits in a queue outside a PDS shop following rumours that card holders would be given essential supplies, in Rathinapuri, Coimbatore.
A view of the iconic Moazzam Jahi Market area in Hyderabad, Telangana. The usually busy and crowded stretch now wears a deserted look on Day 7 of the nationwide lockdown.
A fire-fighter disinfects Fishermen’s Colony at Colaba, Mumbai as a preventive measure to protect people from coronavirus (COVID-19) infection.
Applicants provide details to officials at Ripon Building to get travel passes that allows restricted travel in emergency situations during the complete lockdown period, in Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
Police personnel spray disinfectant on a vehicle in Goripalayam junction in Madurai, Tamil Nadu.