NEW DELHI: The return of as many as 64,000 persons, mainly Indians, just ahead of India closing international travel on Sunday prompted the government to implement a stringent lockdown, including putting some areas under curfew, in a bid to prevent the returnees from triggering a community spread.
The increase in the number of Covid- positive patients over the past week is seen as a result of more Indians with a foreign travel history coming back, a linkage acknowledged by senior health ministry and ICMR officials who are monitoring treatment and incidence of the disease.
There were concerns over people skipping home quarantine even as some 8,000 were in institutional camps for 14 days. Most of the remaining persons were in home quarantine and under watch with their details recorded