PM urges citizens to follow 'Janta curfew' on March 22

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday urged the citizens to follow 'Janta curfew' on March 22 in the view of the novel coronavirus outbreak.

"This is a public curfew. Janta curfew means for the public, curfew imposed by the public on its own. Every citizen must follow Janta curfew on this Sunday, March 22, from 7 am to 9 pm," the PM said during his address to the nation.

The Prime Minister also requested senior citizens to remain indoors for the next few weeks. "Social distancing is extremely important and effective in reducing the impact of coronavirus. All senior citizens in our family should not get out of their houses. I request all people in the country to get out of the house only when it is extremely necessary, try and do all work from home," he said.

Modi also added that no definite solution has been found and no vaccine has been developed yet to deal with the coronavirus.

The Prime Minister said that the world is going through a difficult crisis and citizens have fought the novel coronavirus epidemic firmly.

At present, the total number of positive cases of COVID-19 in India stands at 167, including 25 foreigners. Four deaths (one each) have been reported in Delhi, Karnataka, Punjab and Maharashtra.