Hyderabad: Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao on Saturday called for a 24-hour shutdown in the state from 6am on Sunday as part of the efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19.
Extending support to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call for 'Janata curfew' from 7 am to 9 pm on Sunday, Rao appealed to the people to observe the shutdown for 24 hours.
He said since the move is for the safety and well-being of the society, everyone should observe it voluntarily. He announced that no buses and trains, including local trains and Hyderabad Metro trains, would run during the period, adding five buses will be keep ready in every depot for emergency usage.
Self-discipline and restraint is need of the hour, he said, and urged business and traders to remain shut to extend solidarity towards the cause and help check the spread of the virus.
The chief minister told a news conference that barring essential services like health, milk, water and power supply everything would be shut. He said Telangana should be a model for the entire country.
He also appealed to people to come out of their houses or on their balconies for two-four minutes at 5 pm to clap for those in the medical profession rendering services in this crisis.
KCR, as Rao is popularly known, said if required the state would go for total shutdown to contain the spread of coronavirus. The state so far reported 21 COVID-19 positive cases and all of them had come from abroad.
He said Telangana was also considering shutting down its borders with Maharashtra after two-three days.
Maharashtra has recorded the highest number of cases (52) of 258 cases reported so far across the country.
Rao said 20,000 passengers arrived in Telangana from abroad since March 1. Of them, 11,000 have been traced and kept under home quarantine.
“We are fully prepared and ready to spend huge funds to tackle the crisis,” he said.
The chief minister said 5,274 teams have been formed to trace all those who returned from abroad this month. He appealed to all such people to voluntarily report to the authorities and assured that the government will take care of all the expenses of their treatment and that they would not be troubled.
“I have spoken to the PM for grant of permission to use the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology for treatment of about 1,000 patients in case of emergency,” Rao said.
(With inputs from IANS)
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