The Union health ministry, in its daily press briefing on Monday, said a complete lockdown has been announced in 19 states and union territories. Some parts of six states and union territories have been kept under lockdown.

Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary, Health Ministry, said, “States/UTs under complete lockdown are Chandigarh, Delhi, Goa, Jammu and Kashmir, Nagaland, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Ladakh, Jharkhand, Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Tripura, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh.”

India has so far reported 433 confirmed cases of which 23 patients have been discharged. Eight people have died, all of whom also had co-morbid conditions.

If all government decisions of curfew and shutdown are considered, the disease can be controlled in an effective manner, Agarwal said.

Addressing the media, ICMR Director-General Balram Bhargava said 12 private laboratory chains have been registered and have started functioning to conduct COVID-19 tests. These 12 labs have 15,000 collection centres across the country.

On the use of hydroxy-chloroquine, the ICMR chief said it is recommended only for a healthcare worker who is treating a COVID-19 patient. Secondly, it is recommended only for persons staying and caring for a household positive patient. They can take that only for ‘prophylaxis’, or prevention.

Earlier in the day, the National Task Force COVID-19 constituted by ICMR had recommended the use of hydroxy-chloroquine for prophylaxis of COVID-19 for high-risk cases.

Bhargava further said the process of kit manufacturing has been fast-tracked at ICMR-NIV, Pune. Two kit manufacturers have already been approved.

“I would like to clarify that FDA/CE approval isn’t mandatory. ICMR-NIV approved tests which will be done there on fast-track basis will also be acceptable for COVID testing,” said ICMR DG.

Even as lockdowns and curfews kicked in across the country, the Government has maintained that there is still no evidence of community transmission of Coronavirus in India.

On Sunday, the Government announced its decision to lock down 13 states and 80 districts hours after India observed an unprecedented ‘Janata Curfew’.

Meanwhile, in an unprecedented measure to check the spread of COVID-19 coronavirus disease, operations of domestic scheduled commercial airlines shall cease with effect from Wednesday, the Government has announced.