New Delhi/Islamabad - About 500 people
entered self-isolation in staff quarters of India's presidential
palace on Tuesday, and Pakistan's prime minister was due to be
tested, as the coronavirus spreading through South Asia hit the
heart of the region's governments.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and his wife tested negative
for the coronavirus, his spokesman said, after at least 20
palace officials were infected last week. In Pakistan, Prime
Minister Imran Khan will undergo testing after it was confirmed
that the head of the country's biggest charity organisation,
Faisal Edhi, whom he met last week, had contracted Covid-19.
In India, the alarm was raised at President Ram Nath
Kovind's residence in Delhi after the daughter-in-law of a
sanitation worker living in employee quarters tested positive.
Neither Kovind, 74, nor his aides would self-isolate as they
would not have come into contact with lower-level workers,
officials said. The president has a mostly ceremonial role.
The families of palace workers living in 114 apartments on
the grounds were ordered to stay inside, and seven members of
the sanitation worker's family were moved to quarantine.
A municipal worker sprays disinfectant on the bags of people, as they maintain social distancing while sitting in a line to receive free food distributed by the Delhi government during an extended nationwide lockdown to slow the spread of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19). Picture: Anushree Fadnavis/Reuters
India's 1.3 billion people have been ordered to remain
indoors for 40 days under a nationwide lockdown to slow the
spread of the virus.
Indian authorities have confirmed 18,984 cases of Covid-19,
including 603 deaths, a low toll compared with Western countries
with much smaller populations, though officials say a lack of
testing may mean many more cases have not been reported.
An employee of India's parliament has also tested positive,
but did not come to work, an official said. The administrative
wing of the legislature reopened on Monday as part of a
staggered exit from the lockdown.
While the total number of confirmed infections is rising,
Indian health officials said the speed of transmission was
slowing thanks to the lockdown, in place until May 3.
The "doubling rate" - the number of days it takes infections
to multiply by two - had increased to 7.5 days, up from 3.4 days
before the lockdown, health ministry joint secretary Lav Agarwal
said. "This is an extremely positive trend," he said.
Kashmiri men employed by government carry a sack containing food packets for distribution among needy people in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir. Picture: Dar Yasin/AP
CORONVIRUS SCARES CLOSE TO POWER IN AFGHANISTAN, PAKISTAN
In Pakistan, Edhi, the charity group leader diagnosed with
COVID-19, said he had met Prime Minister Khan last week to hand
him a cheque to help fund the nation's fight against the
coronavirus. Neither was wearing a mask in the picture the
government released after the meeting in Islamabad.
During a televised briefing on Tuesday, Dr Faisal Sultan,
the prime minister's personal physician, who is also the
country's focal person for COVID-19, said Khan would heed advice
to undergo testing. Khan was present at the briefing too.
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan will also be tested for Covid-19. Picture: IANS
The prime minister has held a number of meetings over the
last few days, including chairing a cabinet meeting on Tuesday.
He met the president and intelligence chief a day earlier.
Pakistan has relaxed its lockdown to allow essential
industries and services to resume operations. It also lifted
restrictions on mosque congregations as the Muslim holy month of
Ramadan starts later this week.
In Afghanistan, Ghani, 70, had limited most of his contact
with staff to digital communication after some came down with
COVID-19.
“The president is healthy and is leading government efforts
on all fronts. All precautions are in place to make sure his
work environment is safe and healthy,” his spokesman, Sediq
Sediqqi, said on Twitter.
Here are official government figures on the spread of the
coronavirus in South Asia:
* India has reported 18,984 cases, including 603 deaths
* Pakistan has reported 9,216 cases, including 192 deaths
* Afghanistan has reported 1,092 cases, including 35 deaths
* Sri Lanka has reported 310 cases, including seven deaths
* Bangladesh has reported 2,948 cases, including 101 deaths
* Maldives has reported 34 cases and no deaths
* Nepal has reported 32 cases and no deaths
* Bhutan has reported six cases and no deaths