Delhi Govt seals 20 Coronavirus hotspots, makes it compulsory for people to wear masks

Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia announced on Wednesday that all essential items would be made available to the people in need.

As many as 576 cases of coronavirus have been reported so far from the national capital including nine deaths and 21 recoveries. However, no new cases were registered in the last 24 hours.

The 20 hotspots to be sealed include Markaz Masjid and Nizamuddin Basti, Dwarka's Shahajahanabad society, parts of Mayur Vihar, Patparganj, Malviya Nagar, Sangam Vihar, Seemapuri, Vasundhara Enclave and Dilshad Garden among others.

Making it compulsory to wear masks while stepping outside, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted: "Wearing of facial masks can reduce the spread of corona virus substantially. Therefore, it has been decided that facial masks will be compulsory for anyone stepping out of their house. Cloth mask shall be eligible too."

The decisions were taken at an emergency meeting held at the Chief Minister's residence, which was attended by Health Minister Satyendra Jain, his officials and Deputy CM Manish Sisodia.

Besides Delhi, wearing masks has been made compulsory in Uttar Pradesh, Mumbai, Odisha, Chandigarh and Nagaland.

At present, there are as many as 5,274 COVID-19 positive cases in India with 149 deaths recorded so far, as per government data.

According to John Hopkins Coronavirus live tracking map, the number of positive cases in India is 5,749 with 174 deaths.

Globally, 1,464,853 people are affected across 184 countries with the death toll touching up to 85,397. The United States has the maximum number of COVID-19 positive cases with the tally crossing 4 lakhs and over 13,000 deaths.