COVID-19: Jharkhand announces closure of educational institutions till April 14

Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Monday announced closure of all educational institutions in the state till April 14 as a precautionary measure in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.

Informing the Jharkhand Assembly about this, Soren said the shutdown will be applicable on government as well as private educational institutions, besides coaching centres and hostels, starting March 17.

He, however, said students from the poor family background will be allowed to stay in hostels with the government looking after them.

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The state has not reported any positive case of the virus so far, but it has taken preventive steps against the viral disease.

The Budget Session of the Assembly will continue till its scheduled end on March 28.

The chief minister further told the house that the government will not hold any conferences till April 14 and also all zoos, museums and parks will be closed till then.

Rs 200 crore has been earmarked towards expenditure in connection with the tests and setting up of other apparatus to deal with any situation.

The government will review the situation after a fortnight to take appropriate decisions, he said.

The owners of buses would be urged to take mobile numbers of every ticket purchasers so that they could be tracked if necessary as several people from Jharkhand, who are working in Metro cities, are likely to return home following the threat of coronavirus, the CM added.

The chief minister also said that directions would be issued to all private establishments not to cut pay of their employees if anybody did not turn up for duty on count of coronavirus.

Soren said that 175 of a total of 488 people who returned home in the state did not show any symptoms of the virus, while the rest were under close observation.

Seeking suggestions from the members in the House on congregations at religions places, Soren called upon the people to help prevent the disease.

He cited an example as to how authorities of the famous Tirupati temple have limited the visits of devotees.

Giving detail of preparedness, he said a total of 300 doctors and medical staff have been trained to deal with the situation.

All the Deputy Commissioners have been empowered to implement effectively the Epidemic Act, he added.

New jail inmates will be kept in isolation before being shifted to general wards, and IG (Prison) is being directed in this connection, he said.

The government has proposed to set up separate isolation places for children, he said.

The government will also help the poor families under different social welfare schemes after their earning members return from their places of work, the chief minister said.

"They may not come with the disease, but their source of income gets affected after they return home. So social welfare programmes will be ensured for such families," Soren said.