Preventive Measures Taken by the Government to Contain the Entry and Spread of COVID-19
The Indian government
has announced a number of preventive measures to minimize the entry and spread
of COVID-19. This is an evolving situation and some of these measures are
important for businesses to be aware of so that they can take steps to inform their
stakeholders accordingly. Boards of Directors are required to be mindful of the
following and factor them in while assessing business continuity risks.
- Evacuation measures: The
Indian Government has been evacuating thousands of Indian citizens in batches
from various locations since January 2020. These passengers are placed under
quarantine for a 14 (fourteen) day period and their health conditions are monitored
on a daily basis. Now that there is a moratorium on international flights
landing in India, Indians abroad are being asked to extend their stay there,
with Indian missions in various countries assisting with alternative
accommodation. India has also been requesting various countries to extend the
visa duration of Indians abroad, in light of the COVID-19 disaster.
- Screening, testing and quarantining: Universal
screening at all airports in the country has been mandated due to the given
rise in coronavirus imports. Screening measures
have also been implemented at 12 major seaports and 65 minor seaports and land
borders. Quarantine centers have been set-up to isolate passengers showing
symptoms of the infection. [Press note, 2 March 2020, Ministry of Health and Family
Welfare https://pib.gov.in/PressReleseDetail.aspx?PRID=1604909]
- Labs testing: The National Institute of
Virology, Pune (NIV) and 52 other laboratories under the Indian Council of
Medical Research’s (ICMR) Viral Research and Diagnostics Laboratories network
are equipped to test samples. NIV has facilities for COVID-19 molecular
diagnosis and next-generation sequencing. The labs are equipped with reagents
to test up to 25,000 samples. Recently, certain private laboratories have also
been approved for testing (see our post on testing guidelines)
- Travel restrictions: Travel
advisories are being issued by the Indian Government to avoid non-essential
travel abroad. Self-quarantine was mandated to passengers arriving in India
from China, Hong Kong, Republic of Korea, Japan, Italy, Thailand, Singapore,
Iran, Malaysia, France, Spain and Germany. India has now imposed a moratorium
on all international flights. Indian Railways has suspended all its passenger
train operations till 31 March 2020 (with the exception of a handful of
suburban trains). Most inter-state road travel is banned. Several states have
taken measures to cancel most forms of intra-state public transport in an
effort to prevent community transmission.
- Visa restrictions: From
February onward, the e-visas issued to foreign nationals of China were
cancelled, followed by cancellation of visas issued to foreign national of
various other affected counties such as Japan, South Korea, Iran, Italy. Now,
all tourist visas to India stand cancelled.
- Directing the shut-down of
educational institutions, malls, cinema halls, restaurants, bars, pubs and
certain other establishments in some States. The Central Government imposed a
“Janata Curfew” or voluntary curfew on 22 March 2020. Following this, the
Government recommended that the relevant state governments implement shutdowns
in the 75 districts that have reported confirmed COVID-19 cases or casualties. While
several state governments have reacted immediately with their own shutdown
orders, others are expected to make their announcements very shortly. (Stay
tuned to this blog for updates on developments)
- Restriction on public gatherings in various
States. (see our post on Section 144)
- Social Distancing. (see our
post on the social distancing advisory)
- Restriction on functioning of courts in various
States. (see our post on the restrictions on court functioning)