Nearly 23 lakh people in quarantine across India: Govt estimates

New Delhi, May 28: Nearly 23 lakh people, who have moved within the country or arrived from international destinations during the ongoing nationwide lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, are currently in quarantine facilities arranged by states and union territories.

While majority of the state governments and union territory administrations have made at least seven days' quarantine compulsory for anyone arriving in their jurisdiction, a few of them have opted for home quarantine for those reaching their administrative limits.

According to an official estimate, as on May 26, a total of 22.81 lakh people were in quarantine facilities arranged by different states and union territories -- almost double from 12 days ago (May 14) when the people put under quarantine were 11.95 lakh, a government official told PTI.

Maharashtra has the highest number of people in quarantine facilities -- 6.02 lakh -- followed by Gujarat, which has kept a total of 4.42 lakh people in quarantine centres. Altogether, 2.9 lakh people were in quarantine in Maharashtra and 2 lakh in Gujarat as on May 14. According to the government, during the lockdown, till Wednesday, a total of 91 lakh migrant labourers were transported by trains and buses from various places to different destinations across the country.

Under the Vande Bharat Mission, around 30,000 Indian nationals have been brought back by the government from about 40 countries so far. The government has plans to bring back 1 lakh Indians from 60 countries across the globe. Those currently in quarantine facilities are people who have reached different states by trains, buses or by the special international flights. The number of people in quarantine in government-arranged facilities is dynamic as several lakh people, who have completed their seven or 14 days' quarantine have left for their respective homes before May 14 and after that in batches, the official said.

Uttar Pradesh, which received the maximum number of migrant labourers, has 3.6 lakh people in quarantine, majority of them at their homes. Bihar, another state which received a large number of migrant workers, has 2.1 lakh people in quarantine centres. On May 14, as many as 2.3 lakh people were quarantined in Uttar Pradesh and 1.1 lakh in Bihar.

The number of people quarantined as on May 26 were: 1.86 lakh in Chhattisgarh, 1.18 lakh in Odisha, 88,536 in Jharkhand, 37,618 in Punjab, 30,983 in Jammu and Kashmir, 25,238 in Himachal Pradesh, 19,418 in Rajasthan, 14,930 in Andhra Pradesh, 13,941 in Assam and 13,538 in UT of Ladakh.

As on Thursday, the death toll due to COVID-19 rose to 4,531 and the number of cases climbed to 1,58,333 in the country. The number of active COVID-19 cases stand at 86,110 while 67,691 people have recovered and one patient has migrated, according to the health ministry. Thus, around 42.75 per cent patients have recovered so far, the ministry said. The nationwide lockdown was first announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 24 for 21 days in a bid to combat the coronavirus pandemic. It was first extended till May 3 and again till May 17. The lockdown has now been extended till May 31.