10 foreigners punished for violating Covid lockdown in Rishikesh; write 'sorry' 500 times

As India gears up for a most likely extension of the lockdown, ten foreigners in Rishikesh were made to write 'I am sorry' 500 times on Saturday after they were caught breaching the lockdown. The tourists from America, Israel, Australia, and Mexico were asked to write the imposition as a punishment after they were found roaming on the banks of river Ganga without any purpose. The state of Uttarakhand has reported 35 positive cases so far and has zero deaths as on Sunday. 

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Vinod Sharma, the police officer-in-charge of the Tapowan post, said that it would be unfair to allow the foreigners to take a stroll outside while the locals were asked to remain indoors strictly. Further, the police officials said that they would instruct the hotels in the region to not let tourists outside without a local helper being with them and warned of strict legal action if this rule was flouted. The lockdown is eased daily between 7 am and 1 pm in the state of Uttarakhand for people to move around and buy essentials. 

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Coronavirus in India

Coronavirus cases in India have crossed the 8,000 mark, as per the union ministry of Health and Family Welfare. According to the latest update, the number of total cases in the country has climbed to 8,356, while the latest death toll stands at 273. On Saturday evening, the Indian Council for Medical Research has put out data saying that there had been 1.79 lakh tests conducted till 9 pm that night, of which 7703 people had tested positive, with 17 thousand of those tests, or roughly one-tenth being conducted on that day itself.

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The country currently is in a 21 day lockdown period that was announced by PM Narendra Modi on March 24 and on Saturday, PM Modi met with the Chief Ministers of all states via videoconference in order to assess the situation and take a decision regarding the extension of a lockdown. Multiple states such as Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Maharashtra have already announced an extension till April 30. 

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