The Government’s restarting The Economy Step By Step – Let Us Recap!

Early in 2020, China announced the detection of the novel Coronavirus which has taken over the global economy today. From the early detection of Covid19 to its status as a pandemic and the lockdowns announced by the Indian Government, it’s tough to keep track of everything that has happened.

Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered with a brief timeline to refresh your memory!

Let’s start with some key dates focusing on the virus!

January 2020 – China experienced the outbreak of the virus which is now known as Coronavirus.

30th January 2020 – WHO declared the coronavirus as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.

11th February 2020 – WHO announced a new name for the coronavirus disease, COVID-19.

11th March 2020 – WHO declared the Coronavirus a Pandemic.

A timeline of COVID-19 in India:

21st January 2020 – India began taking precautionary measures against the Coronavirus Outbreak by subjecting all passengers arriving from China to a thermal screening process.

30th January, 2020 – The first case of COVID-19 was detected in India.

February 2020 – The Government extended the thermal screening measures for passengers arriving from Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea. Towards the end of February, passengers arriving from Nepal, Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia were also added to this list.

3rd March, 2020 – The Indian Government stopped the issue of any new visas. All previously issued visas for the nationals of Italy, Iran, South Korea, and Japan were suspended.

4th March, 2020 - the Minister of Health and Family Welfare announced a mandatory screening for all international passengers arriving in India.

5th March, 2020 – The Delhi Government announced that all the primary schools across Delhi would be shut down until 31st March as a precautionary measure in order to tackle the rapid rise of Covid-19 cases in Delhi.

7th March, 2020 – The districts of Jammu and samba also announced shutdown of primary schools until 31st March.

10th March, 2020 – Kerala announced measures to shut down all schools and colleges.

12th March, 2020 – States across the country started implementing shutdowns of public places. Maharashtra declared Covid-19 to be an epidemic with a concentration in the cities of Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Nagpur, Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad.

13th March, 2020 – Apart from diplomatic and other official visas and the visa-free travel for Overseas Citizens of India, all visas were suspended by the Government of India. The Government also announced a 14-day quarantine period for Indian Nationals who were returning from COVID-19 affected countries.

17th March, 2020 – Indian Government issued an advisory statement that urged all Indian Nationals to exercise Social Distancing measures. This was intended to serve as a preventive strategy for implementation till 31 March in order to prevent the Coronavirus from spreading nationwide.

17th – 18th March, 2020 – The above measures were extended to citizens coming from Europe, Gulf countries and Asian countries including Malaysia.

22nd March, 2020 – India observed a voluntary public Curfew for 14 hours following the request by Mr. Narendra Modi.

23rd March, 2020 – Maharashtra’s Chief Minister declared that the borders of all the districts would be closed and that a strict curfew would be implemented statewide.

24th March, 2020 – The Government of India announced a nationwide lockdown for 21 days. The only circumstances under which one could leave their home was to purchase essentials or to visit the doctor. Only essential services were permitted all over the nation. (Lockdown 1.0)

14th April, 2020 – The Government of India extended the lockdown till 3rd May, 2020. (Lockdown 2.0) Several States also made it mandatory to wear a face mask while leaving the house. Lockdown 2.0 came with some relaxations for those areas which were able to contain the spread of Covid-19 .

29th April, 2020 – In an answer to the desperate woes of Migrant Workers, the Ministry of Home Affairs issued guidelines to the states to allow inter-state movement of stranded people (i.e. the migrant worker) along with other requirements to support this move.

1st May, 2020 - The Government of India extended the lockdown till 17th May, 2020. (Lockdown 3.0)

In order to help the economy cope with the effects of the lockdown, the Government of India divided the nation into Zones – Red, Green and Orange Zones. Economic activity and movement was permitted in areas depending upon their zone color. Red Zones are Hotspots, Orange Zones are non-hotspots and Green Zones are districts that have had no confirmed cases or no new cases in last 21 days as on 1st May.

17th May, 2020 – The Government of India further extended the lockdown till 31st May, 2020. (Lockdown 4.0). The lockdown came with a large list of relaxations nationwide.

19th May 2020 – India breached the 100,000 mark of confirmed COVID-19 cases.

25th May 2020 – As of 25th May, 2020 the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has confirmed a total of 138,845 cases, 57,721 recoveries (including 1 migration) and 4,021 deaths in the country (as per Wikipedia reports).

On 25th May, airlines are set to resume inter-state activities across the nation in accordance with announcements.