We Are Developing Country, Must Fight This Together: PM Modi Speech

Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged the country's 1.3 billion citizens to stay indoors to protect themselves from the fast-spreading coronavirus, hours after the government announced it was barring all international flights from landing in the country for a week starting March 22.

"We are a developing nation and for a country like us, this corona crisis is not an ordinary thing," PM Modi said Thursday evening in an address to the nation, noting the pandemic had hit India's economy. He called for a day-long self-imposed curfew from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. on March 22.

The federal government also asked states to enforce work-from-home for all private sector employees except those in emergency and essential services, the state-run Press Information Bureau said in a statement. It advised citizens older than 65 years and children younger than 10 to stay home.

India joined a growing list of countries effectively sealing their borders from overseas flights to prevent an outbreak. The South Asian nation has 173 confirmed cases, including four deaths so far.

India Could be Next Virus Hotspot With an 'Avalanche' of Cases

PM Modi must also prevent further damage to an economy set to expand at the slowest pace in more than a decade. He said his government will form a panel to deal with economic challenges posed by the virus outbreak. The Covid-19 economic response task force will be led by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

States have been asked to stop large public gatherings and keep public transport services to a minimum, Lav Agarwal, a joint secretary in the health ministry, said at a separate press briefing in New Delhi. Educational institutions, exam centers and theater halls have been closed temporarily.

PM Modi urged Indians not to hoard or indulge in panic buying of essential commodities.

'Create a Scare'

The measures come on a day when Australia and New Zealand said they were both banning non-residents from entering the country, following a similar announcement by Taiwan. Indian airlines including Vistara, an affiliate of Singapore Airlines Ltd., and Go Airlines India Ltd., have already suspended all overseas flights. Budget carrier SpiceJet Ltd. has withdrawn most international services.

Worldwide the number of cases hit 217,506, with the death toll topping 9,000.

The federal health ministry said there was no community transmission of the disease so far, while advising hospitals to avoid admission of non-urgent cases and minimize elective surgeries. The government's measures are primarily focused on taking preventive steps, Agarwal said, adding that Thursday's decisions were taken after a meeting of a group of ministers.

"There is no question of community transmission in this country," he said. "These words unnecessarily create a scare in the minds of the people."