Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan urges PM Modi to reopen Karnataka border for Covid-19 patients

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday urging him to keep the borders between Kerala and Karnataka open for the movement of patients and goods. After writing to the Prime Minister, Vijayan also had a phone conversation with PM Modi in order to keep the borders open at Mangalore and Coorg between the two South Indian states. Vijayan in a statement said, after he spoke to PM Modi and briefed him on the issue, Home Minister Amit Shah called him and assured him of action.

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National borders also sealed

This decision comes after a Covid-19 patient from Kerala who wanted to enter Karnataka for treatment was not allowed to do so as the borders had been sealed, the patient later succumbed to the virus on Sunday. Since Thursday night Karnataka had closed the border routes as a precautionary measure to stop the spread of the virus as Kerala has the highest number of Covid-19 cases in the country. 

After PM Modi's imposition of a nationwide lockdown, the individual state governments also sealed their borders. Not only the state governments but the Central government also closed national borders to friendly neighbouring countries such as Nepal, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Bhutan to prevent any import of the virus from these countries. The Indian government has also suspended domestic and international flights in the country in order to contain the spread of the virus.

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The nation has witnessed a swell in Coronavirus cases as the number of infected individuals crossed the 1000 figure mark. As on March 29, the number of Covid-19 positive cases stands at 1024, of which 27 have succumbed to the virus while 95 have been recovered and discharged according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. While the figure seems large, it is much less as compared to other developed nations that have become the victims of the fast-spreading virus. Countries such as the US, Italy, Spain, France, Iran have witnessed death toll in thousands while India's death toll stands at 27.