JAKARTA - The Indian government has decided to close the Taj Mahal tourist site. Apart from the Taj Mahal, many national monuments and sites such as the Ajanta and Ellora Caves and major religious sites such as the Siddhivinayak temple in Mumbai, were forced to close.
These efforts were made to control the rapidly increasing spread of COVID-19 in South Asia. The Indian government has also issued travel and visa restrictions, as well as prohibiting entry for its citizens who have traveled from EU countries, Turkey and the UK.
Reported by Reuters, the Maharashtra region is the Indian state that is the most affected area of COVID-19. In this area there are 39 confirmed cases or about a quarter of the 120 confirmed cases in the country of Bollywood.
Mumbai, the capital of Maharashtra is a densely populated city with an estimated 18 million people living there. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, the government has taken a policy to reduce the activities of its employees by 50 percent.
Not only that, the Indian government also has a policy of labeling every citizen with a special mark on the wrist. The label of the bracelet will be used by the hospital to monitor any citizens who have recently returned from abroad.
"I propose we create an emergency fund for COVID-19," said Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Tuesday, March 17.
A sign that says 'Home Quarantine' will serve as a guide for medical personnel to register each patient. The medical records will include the date, the number of patients and the duration of time they have to do it to undergo self-quarantine or the hospital.
The regulations were announced Monday, 16 March 2020 evening. Not only that, India is also assembling a rapid response team of doctors and specialists for the COVID-19 emergency, with an estimated funding of up to 10 million US dollars.
"This can be based on voluntary contributions from all of us. India could start with an initial bid of US $ 10 million. Each of us (SAARC countries) can use these funds to meet the costs of COVID-19 action. Our Foreign Minister, through our embassy, can coordinate quickly to finalize the concept of this fund and its operation, "said PM Modi.
PM Modi invited SAARC members, namely Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal. Pakistan and Sri Lanka to continue to work together against COVID-19.
"We can deal with this together, not in isolation. No confusion, no panic," he said after the leaders of six countries and Pakistan's health ministers shared their views on the challenges in their respective countries and their readiness to fight COVID-19.
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