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Coronavirus fears grip India amid mounting cases

Thursday, 12 March 2020 2:36 AM [ Last Update: Thursday, 12 March 2020 2:36 AM ]

People wearing facemasks amid fears of the spread of COVID-19 novel coronavirus, walk through a shopping arcade in New Delhi on March 9, 2020. (Photo by AFP)

Munawar Zaman
Press TV, New Delhi

On the streets of New Delhi the fear is quite evident but not to the extent it should be. Corona virus is spreading gradually in India with people on the streets seen wearing face masks while others just don’t care. While dozens of positive cases were reported across the country on Wednesday, many call it an imaginary fear while other an alarming crises.

The medial stores are running busy than as usual as the demand for the face masks has increased tremendously with looming shortages.

Although the outbreak has spread panic across the country, the government maintains that everything is under control. It has taken a number of measures to deal with the situation, such as closing primary schools and promoting public hygiene awareness.

The first confirmed case of coronavirus was reported in the southern Indian state of Kerala, the patient was identified as a female student returning from the wuhan university in china. The number of death toll by the outbreak is yet uncertain.

The epidemic has raised fears of tremendous slowdown in overall economy and the market activity remains fragile as many people have started avoiding busy places. Many businesses say supplies are running low and the epidemic has impacted their business in a very severe way. Experts say more worse is yet to come for India given the pace and intensity of the disease and the country’s overall population.

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