CHANDIGARH: The Haryana Government has sealed the Sonipat-Delhi border in order to contain the spread of the novel Coronavirus in the state.
Sources said that daily as of now around 2,500 people travel to Delhi from Sonipat and nearby areas who are involved in essential services. The Haryana Government has asked the Delhi Government to accommodate these people who hail from Haryana but work in the national capital.
All the entry points in Sonipat district from Delhi have been closed till May 3. The decision in this regard was taken on the direction of the Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij who is also the state Health Minister. The Sonipat district administration has enforced Section 144 of the CrPC in the district and sealed its border, after the orders in this regard were issued by the District Magistrate of Sonipat Anshaj Singh.
"These order will have to be adhered to by both government employees and the general public," said an officer.
Sonipat reported six new cases today taking the total cases in the district to 20 of which around 14 who are infected are those who travel to the national capital.
The maximum cases of coronavirus have been reported in the state from the National Capital region (NCR) from the four districts (Nuh, Palwal, Gurugram and Faridabad) bordering Delhi. As among the active cases, nearly 80 per cent of them belong to the Tablighi Jamaat. While Nuh with 57 novel coronavirus cases, followed by Gurgaon (51), Faridabad (43), Palwal (34) and Sonipat (20) are among the worst affected. With seven new cases today Haryana’s total tally touched 294.
Among the total cases in Haryana are 24 foreigners—from Italy, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Thailand, South Africa and Indonesia—and 64 people from other states of India, the state health bulletin said.
On Saturday, Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij had said they have ordered to seal the border with Delhi, as a majority of cases in Sonipat were due to movement of alleged infected persons from Delhi.
"The authorities had to declare a village in Jhajjar as a containment zone on Friday after a Delhi Police constable belonging to the village tested positive. Similar cases were reported from Gurugram also. The Delhi Government employees who belong to Haryana enter the state with valid passes. As some 2,000 Delhi Police personnel have entered the state in the past," he said.